Before the summer, I was not a fan of going to art museums because I didn't find them to be engaging. The idea of looking at obscure modern art paintings did not sound interesting. I have fuzzy memories of going to a local art museum when I was a kid and had no idea what these paintings were trying to tell me. Although I appreciate some types of art, I never considered spending the time to stroll around the exhibits and carefully look at the artwork. During the summer, I noticed that I was bored of staying at home. Despite living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 3 years, I barely explored my surroundings. The last thing I wanted to complain about on the first day of school was that my summer break in California was very ordinary. Because of this, one of my summer goals was to spend more time going to the local museums, in particular art museums.
The reason I chose art museums as my main objective is that I had a passion in classical music and piano, which is a performing art. I had this vague thought that if I spent more time immersed in art, this may help me when playing piano. Combining both visual and auditory elements of art is very helpful in piano because when I play a song, I like to visualize what is going on. Sometimes, I want to craft a story in my mind while playing. The pieces I like the most is impressionistic music, such as Debussy's. These pieces of music have a lot of layers and colors and evoke a lot of imagery, so I thought that art may serve as an inspiration for music.
Another reason I wanted to go to art museums was to make myself become more open-minded. As you can tell based on the before-art-museum self, I was quite narrow minded and jumped to conclusions that because I didn't like art museums in the past, I would not be interested in them in the present day. I gradually came to the realization that being narrow-minded was confining my boundaries and preventing me from taking on new interests and hobbies.
Here are the list of art museums I went to this summer:
- De Young Museum, San Francisco
-BAMPFA, Berkeley
- SF MOMA, San Francisco
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
- Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
- Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
I was planning to go to these museums but I unfortunately didn't go in the end:
- Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
- Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco
The first art museum I went to this summer was the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. I tried to be an active viewer by reading the captions of the artwork. That kind of helped me, but what helped me with understanding some of the paintings was reading the poems students submitted for each artwork. Reading their poems really helped me imagine the sort of person they were trying to express.
One of the most interesting art museums I went to this summer was going to the SF MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). Although I enjoyed going to the DeYoung Museum, SF MOMA stretched my boundaries. Before, I had this preconception that I was not a creative person so I wouldn't be able to relate to art. I had this fixed mindset that creativity was an innate trait. At MOMA, I enjoyed trying to make up my own interpretation of the artwork. I became attentive to the colors, organization, and central theme. There were no wrong answers, so anything I said was valid. I tried to think of how the emotions the artwork was trying to convey connected to the emotions I experienced when playing music. For some of the artworks, I tried to think of music pieces that would match the artwork's backstory. After the trip, I learned that I possessed some creativity. A surprising thing I gained from SF MOMA was that modern art can be fun to look at if you try to make yourself be involved. Prior to MOMA, I always had this bias towards modern art because I thought it didn't involve any creative thought. In actuality, modern art still has its merits. Observing various artworks made me become curious by constantly asking myself, "What is it trying to tell me? Why does it look like this?" I would say it is a very good visual practice.
In general, going to art museums made me explore new interests outside of my bubble.
The reason I chose art museums as my main objective is that I had a passion in classical music and piano, which is a performing art. I had this vague thought that if I spent more time immersed in art, this may help me when playing piano. Combining both visual and auditory elements of art is very helpful in piano because when I play a song, I like to visualize what is going on. Sometimes, I want to craft a story in my mind while playing. The pieces I like the most is impressionistic music, such as Debussy's. These pieces of music have a lot of layers and colors and evoke a lot of imagery, so I thought that art may serve as an inspiration for music.
Another reason I wanted to go to art museums was to make myself become more open-minded. As you can tell based on the before-art-museum self, I was quite narrow minded and jumped to conclusions that because I didn't like art museums in the past, I would not be interested in them in the present day. I gradually came to the realization that being narrow-minded was confining my boundaries and preventing me from taking on new interests and hobbies.
Here are the list of art museums I went to this summer:
- De Young Museum, San Francisco
-BAMPFA, Berkeley
- SF MOMA, San Francisco
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
- Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
- Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
I was planning to go to these museums but I unfortunately didn't go in the end:
- Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
- Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco
The first art museum I went to this summer was the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. I tried to be an active viewer by reading the captions of the artwork. That kind of helped me, but what helped me with understanding some of the paintings was reading the poems students submitted for each artwork. Reading their poems really helped me imagine the sort of person they were trying to express.
One of the most interesting art museums I went to this summer was going to the SF MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). Although I enjoyed going to the DeYoung Museum, SF MOMA stretched my boundaries. Before, I had this preconception that I was not a creative person so I wouldn't be able to relate to art. I had this fixed mindset that creativity was an innate trait. At MOMA, I enjoyed trying to make up my own interpretation of the artwork. I became attentive to the colors, organization, and central theme. There were no wrong answers, so anything I said was valid. I tried to think of how the emotions the artwork was trying to convey connected to the emotions I experienced when playing music. For some of the artworks, I tried to think of music pieces that would match the artwork's backstory. After the trip, I learned that I possessed some creativity. A surprising thing I gained from SF MOMA was that modern art can be fun to look at if you try to make yourself be involved. Prior to MOMA, I always had this bias towards modern art because I thought it didn't involve any creative thought. In actuality, modern art still has its merits. Observing various artworks made me become curious by constantly asking myself, "What is it trying to tell me? Why does it look like this?" I would say it is a very good visual practice.
In general, going to art museums made me explore new interests outside of my bubble.
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