As a person, I enjoy broadening my horizons by learning new facts about history, because history repeats itself and it’s generally useful to know how the past was. One thing I didn’t have was the NYC ID which I tried to get as soon as possible and got it a few weeks into the semester in order to enjoy discounts on things like museums, operas, shows etc. Since I enjoy spending my time at these kind of locations, I ended up going to the MET museum and trying to enjoy one of the exhibits.
Entering the MET Museum I was met with an interesting vibe; lots of people (majority probably being tourists) all trying to enjoy the shows, making the beauty of the museum seem almost claustrophobic. Still, getting in was not hard as the donation was voluntary and I went on to enjoy the trip by myself. Personally, it probably would’ve been a better social experience with others, though the exhibit itself was nice. Specifically, the Egyptian exhibit which has the statue attached below.
Egyptian history is quite unique since the empire is old yet has achieved the grandest of all empires – pyramids. No other group in history has managed to conserve its culture to this day as much as the Egyptians have and it was fascinating to see the tools they had. The eye candy of jewellery and royal portraits were spectacular, but it was also interesting to see how in general people enjoy Egypt so much to the point where a lot of the museum’s exhibit includes reactions to Egypt, e.g. tomb paintings made in the 1900s. For the first time I enjoyed simply looking at the material as I tend to read more than visualize which is why the experience was so lively.
All in all, I believe I will keep on visiting as many museums as possible with my student and NYC ID, because it truly makes me proud to be part of the capital of the world where I’m at most a hour away from seeing global history.
Blog post #2
Blog Post 2 Academic Museum
On Wednesday, a friend suggested we go to a museum.This was after sociology class. A class which I struggle to stay awake in.Not because the class itself is boring. It’s just not as engaging as other classes since we’re often time just watching videos and taking lecture notes.In fact, I actually enjoy the topics discussed in the class. For instance, we analyze the system emplaced in favor of the rich and against the poor. It’s a grim fact but it’s our reality whether we decide to believe it or not.Others might wonder why to even bother trying if the system is already against us. That’s the point, you should utilize all your resources and opportunities to move up your social class because not everyone can.Simply disrupting status quo and fighting against the system is motivating to me.
Back to our journey to the museum.I gathered some friends and we left school heading towards the MET. Luckily for us, the nearby 6 train goes straight there.A train ride full of pure jokes making time pass by quickly.We suddenly find ourselves in the museum as if we teleported. Interestingly enough as students were offered free tickets yet still had to pay donation . I suggested only donating 10 cents but my boys came through with a dollar. Like any other new yorker, I’ve already been to the MET. Though it’s been a long time since I’ve been to the museum and thus I couldn’t remember much. Me and the boys took a picture against a “Fragmentary colossal marble head of youth”. It’s from 2nd century B.C. Greek during the Hellenistic period. A term which I recognize from my time in art history during freshman year of high-scho
ol. All in all this trip to the museum was enlightening and more fun than I thought it would be.
Fall 2017 Club Fair
On September 28th, the Office of Student Life held their annual Club Fair to introduce students to the variety of student clubs and organizations that Baruch has to offer. As 12:30 reached, I made my way down to the Main Gym. Once I stepped into the gym, the sound of music and cheers was all that I could hear. Overwhelmed by the amount of people and different tables there were, I quickly walked around the gym to get an idea of what clubs were present.
On my second lap around the gym, I stopped at tables to find out more about certain clubs that seemed interesting to me. My first stop, FemCode. This summer I participated in a program with Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNY), which is partnered with Cornell Tech and is only open to female students in CUNY. Due to the large amount of men in technology, WiTNY’s aim was to convince more women to join the tech field while also creating a community to support one another. After speaking with a club member, FemCode was basically the same thing but only with Baruch students. As I typed my name and email into the computer, I was excited to continue my growing interest for technology.
I continued to walk around and made my second stop at the Hindu Students Association. Here, I talked to a club member about the upcoming festival of lights, also known as Diwali. Since I was younger, Diwali has been one of my favorite holidays. Aside from the eating of sweets, lighting little lamps, known as diyas, and placing them around the house and outside is my favorite activity. HSA will be hosting their annual Diwali Gala on October 24th. The gala will include dance performances, a cultural play, food and much more! Coming from a small, diverse high school with only one other person having the Hindu faith in my grade, it was great to see a group of people who had something in common with me.
In all, I enjoyed attending the Club Fair. From the playlist of songs to the different clubs, student life at Baruch has shown a wide variety of cultures. Clubs are a place to feel welcomed, comfortable, and have fun! I can’t wait to become active members in clubs at my time here at Baruch!
Club Fair!- Rafeena Muntaz
On September 28th, I wandered around campus and found myself at in the gymnasium at one of the school’s club fairs. The first thing I heard was the loud mainstream music pouring out of a the gym and so many kids walking in and out. I was surprised at how many kids were in the gymnasium seeking a club, especially freshman. I was greeted by one of my one time friends and we wandered around the gym together and encouraged each other to sign up for as many clubs, as we usually shy away from social things and tend to miss out on many great opportunities. We walked around and conversed with many upperclassmen about what their clubs were about and what it could potentially offer us. There was a club there to suit everyone’s interests and I’m pretty sure the clubs in the gym at the moment weren’t even half of the clubs offered by Baruch College. I took particular interest in the UNICEF Club because since I was younger, I took a particular interest in helping the less fortunate and have a soft spot in my heart for kids my age who aren’t fortunate enough to have the same opportunities as others. I even wanted to join the teen peace corps when I was younger but never actually followed through with it, so I took this opportunity and signed up but unfortunately never heard a response. I was also interested in a group who was said to have taken mission trip all around the world to help those in need, but was quickly turned off by the price you wold have to pay if admitted into the group, $800. I was persuaded to sign up for the Golden Key group through one of their members and although I did receive a newsletter via e-mail from them, I never actually followed through with the group. Many other clubs were there, and Baruch offers a club for almost every race at Baruch. If there isn’t one, you can certainly make one!
I encourage everyone to go to a club fair and explore the opportunities that Baruch offers because you never know where it can take you!
Whitney Museum
Being a CUNY students has a wide variety of benefits, one being free admissions to selected New York City museums. On Wednesday, I took the opportunity to take advantage of this benefit along with Stephy, Crystal, and Brian to the Whitney Museum of American Art.
To get to the Whitney Museum, we had to take the L train to the last stop, 8th Avenue, and walk a long twelve minutes before arriving. On our way, we had the opportunity to get a glimpse of The Highline, which was really close to where the Whitney Museum was located. To be admitted into the museum, we had to wait in line for our tickets, which the lady behind the booth nicely gave to us after having a look at our CUNY ID’s. We were suppose to go to the lower level of the Whitney Museum for coat check but accidently got on the elevator going up so we decided to just proceed with our journey.
We got off the third floor and quickly realized that it mainly consisted of meeting rooms for groups that decided to come and look at the art pieces in detail so we got back on the elevator for the eighth floor. The eighth floor was named Calder: Hypermobility which had many more art pieces but were not of our taste because the sculptures were too minimalistic and had little detail. We took a quick look around and decided to go to the floor below; Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection 1900-1960. The seventh floor was more of our liking because it included paintings of all sorts that focused on how relationships, institutions, and activities shape our lives according to the artist’s perspective. The works of art were very intriguing because it covered war, peace, The Great Depression, recovery, social discord and recovery that happened over the course of six decades.
We also saw collections like “No One Exists Alone”; which focused on migration in America and the experiences of the artist as a child. We also saw “The Furniture of Home” which included oil paintings that represented the furniture found in your home and what they symbolize. We concluded our trip to the Whitney Museum with the AIDS collection, which showed how AIDS has affected society.
One piece that stood out to me the most was an oil painting of a man who was on the verge of death from AIDS laying on his bed. It was scary to know that a person could get to that point in their life and look so empty. The whole experience has made me appreciate art more and I will definitely be visiting more museums in the future.
My Trip to The MET
In my eighteen years of living in New York City, the MET has been the museum that I have visited the most. In Middle School, school trips to the MET would common and I probably went three to four times a school year. Back then I was a child and didn’t really understand how I would benefit from a museum, and since Middle School I haven’t visited the MET more than once compared to the ten or so times I visited in a span of three years. The one time I did visit was during my sophomore year in High School, and not because I wanted to but because I had family over that wanted to and I was essentially forced to go. But I actually enjoyed it a bit that time, not like all the other times in Middle School. I always thought that I had seen it all and that’s why I found the MET boring but I was only using that as an excuse, which is why I chose and wanted to go to the MET this Thursday for this blog.
I went with my friend Rafal, who at first didn’t believe me that the admission tickets to get in were a penny because they were donation based. So he ended up paying a dollar for the ticket, but a dollar is still so little when compared to what the MET offers. As an extremely vast place we weren’t able to explore all of it, or most of it since we still had to get to get to English class later. But just the amount of sculptures that we first say upon entering was amazing. Many were broken, probably through wear and tear over hundreds and thousands of years which was crazy to imagine that I was staring at something created thousands of years ago. I consider myself to be a bit of a History buff, buff the art area of history was never really something I enjoyed, however going to the MET and reading about different sculptures and paintings was a lot of information. Especially the sculptures we saw at the start, many seemed and actually were from the Ancient Greek and Romand times, but while that was my guess you could have just as easily read about them and found an accurate date of when they were created. Now I know that a museum is another way to learn about history other than history class.
A Trip to the MoMA
It’s quite rare to scroll through Instagram without seeing any posts featuring the MoMA, so I decided to set out and determine what the hype was all about. I rushed out of English class today with my friend Afnan and headed towards the 6 train. A few stops and a ten minute walk later, I was at the MoMA. I headed inside and asked about ticket prices. To my amazement, admissions were free for CUNY students. After leaving my bag at the check in area, I headed to the second floor. The MoMA is vast, as there are 6 floors to explore. With time to kill and a curious outlook, I looked around.
On the second floor, there were various sculptures. One bronze sculpture caught my eye, as it was in a really abstract and abnormal shape. Wall upon wall with paintings, there was truly a piece of art for people of all preferences and interests. One particular piece of art that I found interesting was the The Lidless Eye by Adrian Ghenie. I would describe this piece as, for a lack of a better description, trippy. It conveyed a base painting of a silhouette, topped with various other pictures within the frame of the silhouette. Despite my limited time, I also checked out The Persistence of Memory Salvador Dalì. For most of my time there I accompanied my friend Afnan, who was taking various pictures for an art history assignment.
While I wouldn’t go on my own free time, I can definitely see why many people enjoy the MoMA. The layout of the museum was extremely spacious, and the staff there were helpful and courteous.
Trip To Whitney Museum Of American Art
I visited the Whitney Museum of American Art for the first time on October 11. I went with my friends, where we spend our 3 hour break between classes exploring. We got free admission by simply showing our cuny IDs, which made me wonder how many other places we could visit and experience without worrying about the cost of admission.
Prior to the visit, I had seen many Instagram photos of people posing at this museum. Thus I went with an expectation in mind. The whole place was aesthetically pleasing as the whole entire museum is painted crisp white, even the doors, elevators, and stairwells were the same exact shade of white. Speaking of elevators, each cab was beautifully designed to have a different theme. The museum consisted of many abstract art pieces which captivated my attention. One piece of artwork that stood out to me most was drawn by Jay Defeo named The Eyes. As the title implies, it is a pencil drawn artwork of a pair of mystical sharp eyes where each hair on the eyebrows and eyelashes is meticulously crafted, along with the fine details of the wrinkles around the eyes. The message behind this piece is that eyes could see beyond what is visible. There was a poem that was also included in the description card.
Unfortunately, we were only able to visit the exhibits on the top 3 floors, as there was an entire floor and a section of the outdoor exhibit that was closed off for renovation. I was super bummed that I was not able to see the infamous stair case of hanging lights. Overall, I really enjoyed my time there. It reminded me of all the field trips I used to go on in middle school which I did not realized how much I missed until I went to the Whitney.
Whitney Museum of America Art
With a wide range of museums in New York City, intriguing exhibitions are offered in various fields. Among other museums, I chose the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Whitey Museum consists of American artworks mainly from the twentieth century and temporary exhibitions.
The Whitney building draws attention with its unique building structure. Upon entering, there are glass windows that allow people to grasp an insight of the large and spacious first floor with a gift shop filled with artistic souvenirs and a line to purchase tickets. The exhibitions are divided into three floors each with a different concept and theme. The sixth floor is the Calder exhibition portraying the theme of Hypermobility. Calder’s sculptures depict kineticism in which it was fascinating to see because unlike other exhibition with framed artworks, Calder uses sculpture to express his idea of movement into sculpture. Through this exhibition, I learned about Alexander Calder and his concept of hypermobility. Calder asserts in combining motion and his sculptures. He believes that if artworks can be composed of colors, then motions should also be included. It was impressive to witness Calder’s sculptures slowly spin and rotate on its own.
Unlike Calder’s exhibition, “An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017” provides historical context of political and social disputes in America. The exhibition greatly demonstrates Americans’ resistance towards wars in the 1950s. Out of all the artworks, Edward Kienholz’s “The Non-War Memorial” stood out to me the most. Instead of using a painting, Kiehholz expresses his idea by putting military uniforms on the floor symbolizing the dead soldiers to provoke a sensation of war terror.
Overall, I would recommend others to visit the Whitney Museum of American Art. It is fairly close to Baruch and the exhibitions are highly intriguing and inspiring.
Going to the Whitney
On Wednesday, we went to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Before we arrive, we had to walk many long blocks from the L train to the museum. As we approached the museum, we went up to the front desk to acquire our free tickets since we are CUNY students. As this continued, the woman at the front desk kindly gave us white and beautiful tickets that displayed generic fonts of admission to the museum. The lady then told us that we had to go through baggage check in; however, my group and I decided to take the elevator that we first saw and it was the elevator that skipped the basement floor, which was baggage check in. Instead, we immediately arrived at the third floor where I had to urgently use the bathroom. Afterwards, we had gone to the 8th floor to see what was up there. When we arrived, we did not feel satisfied of the certain pictures and displays that they had. So we decided to go down to the 7th floor where we saw more paintings to our liking. I found an oil on a canvas painting which was primarily colors of black, beige, and maroon while it had little streaks of grey, dark blue, light blue, yellow, and orange. When I looked at the picture, it reminded me of a pizza slice because of the yellow and maroon colors. However, this pizza slice picture elicited emotions such as confusion, mellowness, joy, and a hope for a new beginning. After looking at this painting, we decided to head down to another floor where we saw more abstract art of propaganda during the cold war era. We saw uniforms of soldiers laying on the floor as if they had been positioned the way that dead people would be. This entire experience I would say was a very unique experience because we were 2 minutes late to sociology but overall it was good since we saw beautiful art.
