"Life is either an adventure, or nothing at all."
Friday 10/2: Overwhelmed is an Understatement
I’ve always wanted to go to NYC, so when they offered a trip where we could go to the city AND learn about art, I signed up without hesitation.
After a minor flight delay, we were off to NYC!! Our first cab ride was very exciting... we rear ended another cab and about witnessed a physical fight! We arrived to the hostel, and immediately went out into the cold, cold, rain in search for food. We ended up at a Polish restaurant and had some delicious perogies....which I still can't prnounce. After dinner, Ali, Lauryn and myself embarked on an adventure to Times Square. It was cold, wet, and slightly terrifying, but we survived our first night on the subways and made it back in one piece.
Saturday 10/3: sleep is for the weak
We began day #2 with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was so massive, I think we may have seen about a quarter of the artwork they had. I was immediately taken back by the Impressionist art, probably because we just finished talking about so many of those pieces in my Art in France class. I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of such important paintings. Next, we walked through Central Park where I gave my presentation. The park is HUGE and I could have spent an entire day there. From the park, we traveled back to Brooklyn where we were staying to go on a graffiti tour that included the Bushwhick Collective. I had no idea so much went into graffiti art and really appreciate what those artists go through to get their work up on the walls.
Even though we were in NYC….it was still Saturday, which means football. Ali and I traveled back to Manhattan to find a bar that gets rented out to Mississippi State Alumni where they can come and watch the game. Even though we got off at the wrong subway stop and walked much farther than we should have, it was completely worth it. Bar 515 was like being at home with the all too familiar sounds of the cowbell and fight song. We met a couple of graphic design alumni there that really made us feel like moving to a new city (where you don’t know anyone) is completely “do-able”. Even though State didn’t pull out a W, Ole Miss lost, and that was good enough. Our legs had a nice rest so we decided why not go to the Empire State Building and Grand Central Terminal. We lucked out by going to the Empire State Building at 12:30am. There was no line, and the view was breathtaking. I really felt like I was in the city at that point.
Sunday 10/4: Starting to feel the burn
On Sunday, we had a little bit of free time to explore NYC before we met up with the group. After a partially sucessful subway ride, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge (and took lots of pictures). Even found a "More Cowbell Please" sticker! #HailState! Once we were in Manhattan, the plan was to go to Chinatown.... we didn't see it so we took a left towards World Trade Center One and Ground Zero. It was humbling and I'm really glad we stopped there. You really don't realize how tall these buildings are until you are right up close to them! We decided that we would have a little extra time to swing by the Washington Monument before heading to Chelsea Piers. By this point I thought my feet might fall off so UO came in clutch and I got some new shoes that were a blessing for the rest of the trip. Washington Square Park was in a really cute part of town...I would live there if I could....or if had the money. Also we only witnessed one drug deal/game of chess, so I would call that a success.
I think navigating NYC taught me a few things.
1. My legs/back can withstand a lot more than I ever thought they could.
2. If you get on an express subway, it probably won't stop at the one stop you need.
3. Don't trust your iPhone to give you the exact mileage that you will have to walk becuase it will probably be much....much further.
Long story short, I picked the express subway and thought eh, we'll just have to walk a little further than we had originally planned... and poor Ali trusted me this whole time. We hadn't eaten... and we still had a very long walk from where we got off to the Pier, but we managed to power walk/jog a very long way and made it with time to scarf down a sandwich. Looking back I wish we would've thought to call a cab...
The Architecture boat cruise was definitley one of my favorite parts of the trip, even despite the wind chill and cold water occasionally splashing us and our cameras. I'm not a quitter so the only option was to brave it out, and luckily I got some really good pictures out of it!
We then endured another walk to our alumni networking dinner where we got to speak with a handful of designers that are currently working or going to school in the city. It was nice to know that they didn't really have a plan either... and it makes the whole lifestyle seem a lot more capable. I don't know that NYC is the city for me, but definitley a city is where I want to end up after I graduate. Now I just have to get through portfolio review! I can't remember what we did after the dinner, but I'm pretty sure a lot of sleep was in my itenerary.
Monday 10/5: the day i thought my feet would fall off
We started our monday off with a tour of Ryan Cobourn's studio in Brooklyn. It was really cool to see his space and makes me wish I could be a painter! We then made our way over to Jessi Arrignton's collective studio where her and other designer's pay rent to have a space where they can work. It's a really neat concept and I could see myself in a space like that one day. That way, you still feel like part of a community since being a freelancer could often get lonely... and you have other people to bounce off ideas with.
We visited the Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn and saw where many designers go for graduate school. It's a pretty big difference from the art studios and resources that we have here in Starkville, but it made me appreciate what we have and how close of a community we have in our art department.
The MoMA was AMAZING! I loved seeing so much of the art that we studdied in Art History II. The Picasso exhibit was interesting as well. I didn't realize he did so many sculptures. Seeing Andy Warhol's Soup Cans and Van Gogh's Starry Night
were definitely some of the highlights. I could have spent days inside the room with Monet's Water Lillies. It was huge and the room was so calming!
We had some more time to explore that night and ended up going to Rockefeller Center to see the ice rink....which opened a little over a week after we left. Sad day. I guess I'll just have to go back soon! We hit up Times Square for some selfies inside the Starbucks, too much chocolate at the M&M's store, and lot's of shopping at H&M.
Tuesday 10/6: Hot cheetos and tacos?
By this point I was exhausted... but upset that we would be leaving and there was still so much I wanted to see! We started our day by walking the High Line. We were walking inbetween the buildings and it was such a beautiful day. There was a random lego building exhibit thing on the walk and I think I may have enjoyed it a little bit too much.
The galleries we stopped at were an extremely important part of the trip for me. It was realy neat to see other smaller artists work and the different mediums that current artists are working with. I'm slightly jealous that I can't just spend all my weekends looking at the art in all of these galleries.
I am really, really thankful for this trip. It came at just the right time too. I was feeling burnt out, especially since most of my classes aren't studios this semester and I had just been feeling bored and not sure of what I wanted to do. Being in the city, seeing all of the art, and meeting so many people made me very excited to keep working on not only my art, but what makes it stand out from others. I have my drive back and I'm ready to start making and finding out what it is that defines me as an artist. New York was a blessing and I would reccommend the trip to anyone!