Category Archives: Gallery

Tales from Art Galleries and Museums

Museum Mile 2023

Posted in Cultured, Gallery by

I can’t believe that the last time I did the Museum Mile Festival was in 2011, but here we are, twelve years later and I’ve finally made it out once more to the festival.

For a bit of background, there is a stretch of museums that runs along 5th Avenue between 82nd and 110th Street, this stretch was given the name “Museum Mile” and once a year 5th Avenue shuts down as museums along that strip open for free from 6pm – 9pm. I found out about the event in 2010 from a friend and wanted to make a tradition of it, but here we are 12 years later finally visiting the museums again!

The first year I went to the Guggenheim, and the following year I visited the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York. This year my friends wanted to go to the Guggenheim and El Museo del Barrio.

I got to 5th Avenue first so I joined the line for the Guggenheim which wrapped around the block1! At 6pm they started letting people in and it took us 20 minutes to get to the front of the line. Given the layout, it didn’t feel very claustrophobic, but I have visited the museum during regular hours and it was definitely more packed. Along the spiral, they had work from Gego – a Venezuelan visual artist. The photo doesn’t do it justice, but her work was very geometrical and it appealed to my instinctual need for order. There was something genuinely relaxing about observing her work.

We also dipped into the gallery with the Picassos2 and visited the A Year With Children 2023 gallery which had art from public school kids. What an experience that must have been for these kids to see their art in a museum, it was a fun and colourful display.

Later we took a stroll to El Museo del Barrio, passing several DJs and bands along the way. At the museum we took our time walking through the galleries, the block print works were among my favourites, but then I saw this stunning work by Eloy Blanco3, it had tiny stick figures on the red background; I loved it.


The night ended at the Shake Shack, with good laughs and conversations. Let’s see if I do this again next year!

~*~

1. The end of the line for me was Madison and 89th Street!
2. Every time I posted a Picasso from that day online I added “Ok, I like it, Picasso“, and then found it highly hilarious when the Guggenheim liked one of my tweets. What is the internet?
3. Another Venezualean artist!

Philly – A Weekend

Posted in Bookish, Cultured, Gallery, Vacations by

There was a part of me that assumed I couldn’t travel on my own, and it was that part of me that I wanted to challenge. Travelling with friends is fun – as long as you and the friends are compatible travelling companions, and I’m lucky to have some good friends that are great travel buddies. Still, I wondered what it would be like to set my own pace, to wake up at 11 am and spend three hours wandering a museum or sitting in a park reading a newly purchased book from the local bookstore, simply because I fancied doing so at the time. So, when I was started feeling a deep desire to spend time alone, I took a random weekend trip to Philadelphia.

I had to set goals, I wanted to see two places of interest, the Liberty Bell and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and I wanted to visit at least one local bookstore – if I purchase something, that would be a plus!

After arriving by Amtrak on Friday afternoon, making my way to my Airbnb for the weekend (in the heart of the city!) and finding some cheesesteak at Reading Terminal Market, I decided to map out my weekend. The next day I’d try to visit the Liberty Bell and take a walk across town to the museum, then the following day it would be bookstores and shops. Continue reading →

So, I ran into JT …

Posted in Cultured, Gallery, My New York by

He didn’t look pleased, the paparazzi were all over the place and we had to run to escape them. Luckily, we ran into George who was kind enough to offer us a place to stay.

All was well until George popped the question – Lemonade? Or Iced Tea? JT wasn’t pleased.

Robin said he was more of a coffee person, and went out to look for a Starbucks.

When he returned and we were all caffeinated (one way or another) we threw ourselves a little concert. That JT sure can sing!

His song was like the siren’s, every super hero within earshot came to celebrate.

More photos from Madame Tussauds’ can be found on Flickr. It was a wonderful and fun experience, definitely worth the trip!

Random Art of the Month

Posted in Cultured, Gallery, My New York by

Have you seen the art in the 14th Street ACE subway station*? I was so inspired by the wonder that I stepped off the train one stop early to admire their beauty.

No, I wasn’t reading a book and thought I had to exit the train because I reached my stop. Nor did I almost walk up the stairs from the platform before realising I was at the wrong station. None of that happened. I just wanted to take a look at the art.

And no, I did not stand there, taking photos of subway art while waiting on the next train – even though I had time to rush back into the car – so people on the platform and in the car won’t think I’m strange.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time I wanted to check out the art.

* The installation is called Life Underground and it’s by Tom Otterness

Harry Potter: The Exhibit

Posted in Cultured, Gallery, My New York, Thoughts by

As a Harry Potter fan, I had to go to the exhibit on its last American leg of the tour – Discovery Time Square. So, Anna and I set out to see the exhibit. It was a lot of fun!

While I’m a Harry Potter fan, I am not necessarily a fan of the movies. Movie 6 really disappointed me and I thought that 5 and 2 could have been done … well .. differently. Of course, they did the best they could with the story. The books are rich with imagery, so I didn’t expect them to take everything and regurgitate it on film, but some of the things that were cut or changed, it made me cringe.

  

That aside, one of my favourite things about the movies was the world they created. From the Yule Ball costumes – I thought Ginny’s was cute in the movie – to the Death Eater’s costume, to the horn-tail dragon model and different parts of the set – including Hagrid’s hut – there was so much to see and take in.

The Exhibit: Hagrid's Hut (via antenna mag)

Hagrid’s Hut featured a chair that you could sit in, it was rather large. I felt like a child sitting in it.

The Exhibit: Gryffindor's Dorm (via antenna mag)

I especially love the details in the Gryffindor dorm rooms, the bed hangings that were found – by chance – in a fabric store, that turned out to be perfect for the set.

The Exhibit: Marauder's Map (via nycsinglemom)

The work that went into making these sets, especially the items on the set, is amazing. However, the best prop – in my opinion – was the Marauder’s Map!

  

They didn’t have costumes from the wedding scene, but Fleur’s dress is awe-inspiring! I wish they had it in the exhibit.

Hogwarts Express (via NYT)

Overall it was a ton of fun! It made me excited for my trip to Hogwarts at the end of September. I only wished there was a Hogwarts Express to Universal.

If you missed the exhibit you can check out this New York Times slideshow of some of the pieces.