Over fall break this October, Professor Jody Patterson traveled to New York City with her capstone research seminar, "Exhibiting and Collecting American Art." I had the privilege of accompanying Jody and her class on their trip.
We arrived in New York City on Thursday morning and were taken by shuttle to our hotel in the heart of Times Square. Our first and only stop for the day was the Museum of Modern Art. To Jody’s lighthearted disappointment, we opted not to brave the drizzling rain and instead took the subway; this, however, did allow us to see Lichtenstein’s Times Square Mural in the 42nd Street subway station. At MoMA, we explored the galleries before reconvening for a tour led by one of MoMA’s docents. Of particular interest to students were Van Gogh’s Starry Night, as well as Dalí’s Persistence of Memory, whose size shocked many. Discussion in the galleries also centered on Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Street, Dresden and Peter Blume’s magnificent The Eternal City. We concluded our visit to MoMA with Adelia Gregory, Associate Educator of Public Programs and Gallery Initiatives, and an alumna of our own department. Adelia, who has worked at the Norton Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, as well as the Wexner Center for the Arts, graciously facilitated a discussion with students about working in museums both in and outside of New York City.
Friday began with a walk on the High Line to the Whitney Museum of American Art, whose smaller collection was welcomed by those of us who were reminded of, or who experienced for the first time, the immensity of MoMA’s holdings. At the Whitney, students were excited to see in person a variety of paintings that had come up in the course of Jody’s seminar, including works by Joseph Stella, Charles Sheeler, and George Bellows. Many took advantage of the stunning waterfront views to snap a few — or a few dozen — selfies. We left the Whitney and headed for lunch at Chelsea Market before trekking across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After a quick overview by Jody of the Met’s collections, students dispersed. A number headed straight for the American Wing, while others went off to the Arms and Armor Department and some to the collections of Asian Art.
On Saturday morning, we regrouped once more in the hotel’s lobby; everyone was groggy but we were ready for our last morning in the city. After a brief detour to the Flatiron Building and a lovely walk through Chelsea, we made our way to the Paula Cooper Gallery to meet Betsy Bickar, an Art Advisor at Citi Bank and an alumna of our department. Betsy greeted us in Paula Cooper’s main gallery, whose walls were adorned with Sol LeWitt’s monumental Wall Drawing #485; she enthusiastically fielded questions about working in galleries and the business of art advisory. Students were fascinated to hear that Betsy had recently discouraged an anonymous client from spending a multi-million dollar sum on a Basquiat of questionable provenance.
The trip was a resounding success. The students, all majors in history of art, encountered so much art in-person that they had formerly seen only through electronic reproductions. Additionally, our meetings with Adelia and Betsy apprised students to some of the opportunities and careers beyond academia that are possible with an education from our department.
Schuyler Black-Seitz
PhD Student in History of Art
