Author: Lukasz Grum

When asked about my identity and the things that make me who I am, I think about my personality, my aspirations, and my interests.

To begin, I decided to paint a background on the mask resembling that of a sky and clouds. To me, the sky shows that I have so many goals that I have the potential of achieving, and the clouds representing that life is not predictable, but I still have the ability of moving forward.

Next, I decided how I could symbolize the different aspects of my life. In each of the clouds, I placed a symbol of the things that make me the person who I am.

The first symbol that I decided to place was the Polish flag. I take deep pride in my Polish heritage, and it represents where my family comes from and the traditions that have shaped who I am. In Poland, family and community are some of the most valued parts of life, and I carry those values with me every day. To me, my family and the traditions that we have established are very important, as they center around gratitude and love for one another. Additionally, the Polish value of hospitality and care are very important to me, as I try to be of any help for others whenever it is possible.

The second and third symbol I decided to place was a laboratory flask and a tooth. Science is one of my interests and though it can be difficult, I love to see the different functions and properties of life that allow us to live and thrive. Personally, I have really enjoyed my chemistry and biology laboratory classes this semester, so these courses have built a much greater interest and appreciation for science. The tooth is another symbol I decided to put as I hope to become a dentist in the future. Personally, the hands-on and practical skills along with the human connection are some of the reasons I hope to become a dentist.

The fourth symbol I placed was a cross, resembling my Catholic faith. My faith has played a large role in life since I was a child. It has allowed me to find comfort during rough times and to find peace in prayer. Additionally, my faith has allowed me to continue to try to be the best version of myself that I can be.

The fifth symbol I placed was a trio of people. To me, this represents both family and friends. My family and friends are the people that ground me and appreciate life for what it is. I am very fortunate to have people in my life that are very caring and supportive, and this connection I have with my family and friends has made me the person who I am today.

The sixth symbol is a clothes hanger and a shirt, representing my love and interest for fashion. To me, fashion allows me to express myself and allow me to feel good about myself. I love being able to play with colors and structures and find myself through this.

Finally, the seventh symbol I placed was a pair of headphones. To me, music is a comfort that has helped me to get through tough times. Finding connection to an artist and their lyrics reminds me that life is a shared experience and that I am not alone in my struggles. I also just love listening to compositions and instrumentals of music, as these elements in music are very beautiful and captivating.

So, to me, my identity is one that branches off into so many aspects that appreciate life, connection, and human experience.

On Saturday, we had the amazing opportunity of seeing the opera known as La Boheme. The opera was performed at the Lincoln Center, which I thought was very beautiful and elegant. Although it was hard to see some of the action on the stage and actually seeing who was performing what as our seats were higher up in the venue, it was still such an amazing experience.

Like many of the Macaulay Seminar trips we had attended over the course of this semester, I had no idea on what to expect from this, especially considering this is an opera. I always believed that an opera was a very serious and dramatic performance, however La Boheme seemed to reject that belief I had almost immediately. The opera began with a very comedic, in my opinion, act, with the four friends in the impoverished apartment. I really liked the acting and motions of this act, especially when the landlord had come into the apartment. I also believed that the first act did a very good job on setting up the plot of the rest of the story. Being that the story is based on struggling artists dealing with a Paris winter, I knew there was going to be some hardship that was going to come, even though there was lots of comedic points. I also thought when Mimi had entered, it was such a beautiful movement. I was really stunned by the actresses voice and thought it was very beautiful. I also liked the simplicity of how Rodolfo and Mimi fell in love at first sight when Mimi’s candle went out and could not find her key.

The second act was also very comedic and funny, showing the friendship of the poor artists and how they incorporated Mimi into the friend group setting at the cafe. I loved the theatrics of everything in this act, especially the animals coming out (I didn’t even know that was possible). I thought that Musetta was a very funny character, even though I was confused on what was occurring with her and her love story half the time.

The third act of La Boheme may have been my favorite of the acts. I was not expecting the scenery and setting to be so extravagant on stage. The fake snow was such a nice element and was a wow-factor for me. This was also what I was more so expecting of an opera, being very dramatic and emotional. It had a much more somber mood, as Mimi has fallen ill and in a conflict over Rodolfo and Marcello. It was also a very emotional moment when Rodolfo admits that he and Mimi’s love is falling apart because of his fear of her death because of his impoverished state.

The fourth act was an effective way of ending the opera and tying everything together. It’s evident that Rodolfo misses Mimi when he is back in his apartment and wishing that he could see her again. Suddenly, he finds out that Mimi has fallen ill as Musetta comes up to the apartment and needs help to bring Mimi, who has admitted that she has been thinking of Rodolfo. At first I believed that the ending was too simple, but I truly believe it was such a perfect way to end the story. I thought it was a very interesting way to show Mimi dying in an unnoticed way, especially with Rodolfo being the last one to realize she has died. It was also very emotional to see Rodolfo laying on Mimi at the end.

Rent, which is the musical, or the movie musical, based on the La Boheme opera. The musical/movie musical has the same themes as the actual opera, which was evident with the characters and the names correlations, such as Mimi in the opera and Mimi in the musical. In both versions, Mimi falls in love at first sight, in the musical being Roger. However, in this musical version, Mimi is struggling with AIDS and drug addiction, while Mimi in the opera was ill with tuberculosis. It seemed that Mimi in the musical version was a much more complex character, which is obvious as there needs to be greater depth in a movie version. Roger, who Mimi falls in love with, is a struggling artist, like Rodolfo, who has HIV and is best friends with Mark, or Marcello in the opera.

La Boheme and Rent also share many similar themes but execute these themes in different ways. The opera and the musical portray young artists in the Bohemian lifestyle, being known as the struggling artists who value their creativity. Another similar theme is the complexities of relationships, shown in romantic relationships and friendships. The main characters are a circle friends, which the musical scenes reminded me of the second act of the opera when everyone is together in a very chaotic scene. Like Mimi and Rodolfo, Mimi and Roger have a very complex relationship that has conflicts. Mimi and Rodolfo very subjected to conflicts and tension as it was suspected that there was jealousy and intolerance in the relationship. In Rent, Mimi and Roger have a much more complex relationship, as Roger has serious trauma from a past relationship, in which he contracted HIV and had to face his girlfriend killing herself. It was also apparent in similarity to the opera as Roger showed some jealousy when Mimi and Benny had a strange dynamic going on. Similarly, Roger is also afraid of Mimi dying when she becomes seriously ill. However, one of the main differences in this musical/movie is that instead of Mimi dying, Angel, who is the main loss and shows the toll of AIDS on the human body.

Even though Rent is based on La Boheme, it is very much a different story line. Rent is based in New York City in 1990s and shows the theme of addiction, AIDS, and cultural issues. It can be seen as a movie based on activism with its many “urban” themes. La Boheme, on the other hand, is based in Paris in the 1800s and shows more love struggles as the basis of the plot. However, the opera shows the illness to be tuberculosis, which is of what Mimi dies from. Both versions of the story are rooted in relationships and major struggles, being that like is very fragile and that though there are many struggles and conflicts, it is also important to have some relation or community, as seen with the friend groups being important on both stories.

On Friday, November 7, our Macaulay Seminar class was able to have a zoom call with Rich Stremme. I found this zoom call to be interesting, as Mr. Stremme was speaking about the history of tattooing and his experience with tattooing. The art of tattooing is not something that I have really thought to learn about, so hearing this type of experience was really insightful to me. I really appreciate the way Mr. Stremme story tells and how he is able to truly show his passions in his speech, which definitely helped in learning about the history of tattooing. I found it interesting how the methods of tattooing were like when the art style began to develop, and it was also cool to see how far back the history of tattooing goes. Additionally, Mr. Stremme had lots of cool and interesting stories about his experiences with tattooing, especially the ones of him working with Pat. I found the story he told about the group of sorority girls who wanted identical dolphin tattoos to be funny, but also found why Pat would not want to do the same tattoo and would rather have originality and expression in the tattoos. I also really appreciated how insightful Mr. Stremme was when he was answering questions, as he took his time to actually think about the answers and bring in different life experiences associated with these questions. I really enjoyed the zoom call as it such an eye opening presentation and a fun way to learn the history of an art style!

On Tuesday, October 21, 2025, us Macaulay students spent the night at the Brooklyn Museum. This was an amazing opportunity for us CSI students to see the friends with made with students from the other campuses but to also see such a large variety of artistry.

We began by heading to the Macaulay lounge so we can all bready to head off. While we waited for the bus, we were able to grab a slice of pizza and also played the game Chameleon to pass time. When everyone was ready, we all headed off to the bus and sat down for a loud (but relaxing) bus ride. On the bus, we played games and talked about so many things non-school related, so it was amazing to have the chance to have time outside of school and with each other.

I had no idea on how the Brooklyn Museum even looked like, so when we arrived I was amazed at our grand and elegant the architecture was. The architecture, in general, of the area surrounding the museum is beautiful, and it felt like as if I were in some big city in Europe. However, I was very confused when we walked inside to the museum, as the design was completely different from what I had seen outside.

I put my backpack in one of the bins, which I was so scared about as all my belongings were in this bag and feared someone would mistakenly take it. But nevertheless, we were instructed to move along and go to the elevators to the auditorium where all the Macaulay students sat together and listened to a very insightful but entertaining speech about how we should be hopeful of the future ahead of us and what we should expect and think about during our time at the museum. When this session was finished, we all headed off to the exhibit we were going to spend the night at. After we took the long way with a very crowded stairwell, we entered a green room that I, to be honestly, had no idea was about.

I tagged along a couple groups but also found myself looking at some artworks by myself. A lot of the artwork in this exhibit was beautiful and detailed. We were also able to see the descriptions of each artwork on screens and had the ease of being able to see each description around in the section without spending so much time at each one. These descriptions also had an image of the artwork next to it, so that was also great.

We then found one piece of artwork that became the topic of our reflection, which was the artwork of the most talked about person in our Arts of New York City lecture — Robert Mapplethorpe’s. We found one of his beautiful photographs of a flower, which was on a black plate which contrasted the white flower image. We thought about it for a while, and decided that this image was a display of how life can bloom in the dark, or a sad and melancholic time. We found that this was a possibility as Mapplethorpe’s life contained lots of darkness and tragedy, especially with his long winded journey of becoming a well-known artist and how he finally was able to bloom some time before his death.

We then walked around some more and found lots of interesting pieces of artwork, especially in a nude section and a room filled with random objects like bikes and chairs. However, I thought this was very repetitive, so it started getting a little bit confusing. Somehow after this, we all decided to stop walking around and just settle together in one section with benches.

Around 8:30, we began our way down to the lobby of the museum. We waited a while for the bus to return, but it’s okay because we spent our time well with lots of conversation. On the bus ride back to campus, it was a much different feel than on the way to the museum, most likely because everyone was tired and in fear of the exams that were happening the next day…

We retuned back to campus around 9:30, and the campus at the night time was pretty cool at night, especially since all the street lights were on and it was very empty. I ended my day by going home and studying for the math lab exam we had the next day, and by 12 AM, my mind decided to shut down and fall asleep.

The Night at the Museum was such a great opportunity, especially as all the Macaulay kids were able to interact with each other in person and we were able to see our friends again after being separated by long distances between campuses.

Another Sunday calls for another Macaulay Honors Seminar trip, and this time, I was able to experience a dance performance. Just like the other seminar trips I had experienced, this was something brand new to me, and it was definitely worth spending 20 minutes searching for parking (I should have taken the train but whatever). I will not lie, though I had never been to a dance performance or a ballet, I had many expectations. I fully believed it was going to be lots of dancers and other complexities. Although most of the performances only featured two or three performers at a time, it definitely blew my mind and exceeded my expectations.The commute to the Joyce Theatre was great (Thank to Mrs. French :)). When we were waiting outside the Joyce Theatre, I was imagining what the dances would be like. I imagined lots of pirouettes and spins, or whatever they are called. When we finally got inside the theatre and sat right in front of the stage, I was amazed by the huge curtain that was hung right in front of us. Once the show began, I was already amazed by how the curtains lifted, so I knew this was going to be an amazing experience.

The first performance was absolutely incredible. I loved the synchronization and the movements and choreography. Everything had complimented each other very well. The performance, titled Confetti, was definitely in my top three of the whole experience, especially since the movements with the tambourines were so satisfying and the couples were so talented!

The next performance was Valentine, which was very humorous and quirky, which I was not expecting. It almost felt wrong for laughing but it was very funny. This performance saw two performers in a setting of a boxing match, but it was very confusing to see if they had hated each other or if they had some attraction for the other. The solo bassist was also very funny, as they were making the whole experience so much funnier with their expressions and noises. Although it was really funny, I didn’t really find it as pleasing as the other ones, so it had to be considered my least favorite.

During the intermission, I felt like I had experienced a couple different lifetimes at once. There were so much conversations happening around that me that I managed to converse in every single one of them, and the conversations have had to be some of the funniest ones I have had so far with my friends. After watching those two performances, I definitely didn’t know what to expect with the final two performances, as the first two were so contradicting and different from each other.

As the curtain lifted for the third performance, Sea Shadow, I already knew this was going to become my favorite one. The lightening and the stage design was stunning. The two dancers, which had performed a romantic scene, seemed to have lots of chemistry, which really added to the atmosphere. Reading the playbill, it was interesting to learn that it was a performance representing a man on the beach becoming attracted to a shadow, which he saw as a beautiful woman. This was my favorite performance, as the stage design to the small details in the choreography were 10/10.

Lastly, the final performance of the experience, was Light Rainwhich was a very beautiful piece, which I had taken it to be a beautiful representation of human anatomy and human nature. I loved the opening sequence, with all the dancers raising their arms, making such a beautiful and powerful design and pattern. All of the performers had so much energy and emotion in this dance, which added onto the experience. Another part of the dance that I loved were the noises that, in a way, added onto the movements and made them stronger. I really enjoyed this one, however some parts did feel repetitive. I remember telling Mrs. French that I enjoyed this specific performance because “there was so much to look at,” which really fueled my brain.

Overall, this experience was very fun! Although the commute back was a little bit wet and windy, the whole experience was something I could look back on and appreciate, since all the performances were beautiful in their very own ways!

As a piece of protest art, this installation entitled ‘Lives Over Guns’ was installed outside of a Philadelphia high school by YOMI, a street artist. The installation shows a young child laid out on the sidewalk, becoming a victim to two gun shot in the head. YOMI’s installation was a response to the violent mass shooting at Parkland High School in Florida. The Parkland shooting became one that further escalated the political fight against guns and one that called for greater and expansive gun control by the federal government. YOMI’s purpose was to “continue the conversation between students, teachers, and parents about stricter gun laws and school safety” and to protest against the ineffective federal policies that are majorly supported by the NRA (“Powerful New Installation.. ‘Lives Over Guns’”).

This installation by YOMI is one that still connects to the political nature of our country. Due to the ineffective and destructive actions done by the federal government, there have been 47 school shootings in 2025 alone, with half being on college campuses and the others in K-12 schools. No child should become victim to such violence in the places that are supposed to protect and support them.

On Saturday, September 13, I had the opportunity to do and experience new things about art that I had never had the chance to do before. These experiences were are the Art Lab Open House at Snug Harbor, which had so many amazing opportunities in art. As someone who doesn’t know much about art and is not very creative or artistic, it was honestly a very fun experience and made me want to branch out and try more creative and artistic things.

In order to arrive early and find parking at Snug Harbor, I arrived around 10:40 AM, early enough to find a singular open parking spot in the many parking lots of Snug Harbor. Best of all, the person parked next to me was crossing over the line, so I had to pray and hope that the person next to me would not scratch or dent my car (they didn’t 🙂). I arrived to the Art Lab Open House around 11 AM, and I was able to join into the growing group of students who were also attending the Art Lab.

We began our time at the Art Lab by choosing to do ceramics. The teacher was a very nice and funny person who made soooo many cool pieces of art. I wish I took a picture, but he made a very cool ceramic frog. The purpose of the class was to learn how to make a basic bowl out of clay, which I ended up half doing. At first, my bowl seemed more like a wobbly plate, but I ended up being able to make it into a stable bowl. I purposefully did not take a picture because my creation was horrendous.

After ceramics, the group separated and went into different partsof the Art Lab. A couple other students and I decided to go see the darkroom photography. The teacher was also a very nice person, he was very well educated on topic and had many cool photographs around the tiny studio that is hidden from the rest of the rooms in that building. He showed us his darkroom photography is done, which is basically through being in a room that is free from light and photographic films and paper, which are sensitive to light, are produced. I really enjoyed the part in which he put the photographic paper, which was blank after taking a photo to reproduce an image, in different solutions, and how the image would be formed in a matter of a few minutes.

Although there was a painting lesson, I chose not to as to not embarrass myself, but it was fun to watch what the other students were painting. Instead, I decided to go see the gallery that was created. The gallery consisted of artworks done by the artists that led the lessons at the Art Lab. There were so many artworks, including tiny sculptures and paintings. There were lots of paintings depicting Staten Island, which I have never seen before. One of my favorite pieces from that gallery was one that reminded me of Staten Island, especially the marina and the shores at Great Kills Harbor, which was a spot that my friends and I liked to hang out after school a lot, so it reminded me of high school and the fun memories I made.

That was the end of my experience at the Art Lab at Snug Harbor. It was a very fun and interesting experience, as it made me want to immerse myself in the world of art. When we left the building, my mom called me and informed me to pick up my sister from Polish school, which cut my time from being with the rest of the group, which went to go see the Fence Show. However, when I got to go pick up my sister, she decided to let me know (after I got there) that she is going to her friend’s house, so my time was wasted and could’ve been more valuable at the Fence Show. But it’s okay because I got home and took a very good and very much needed nap.

On Sunday, September 7th, I was able to finally escape Staten Island for a couple hours with a group of friends to see the amazing art at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Although I did have to miss the U.S Open men’s final AND the Polish national soccer team’s match against Finland, I was not disappointed with my experience at the museum!

Surprisingly, the commute to the Whitney from the Staten Island Ferry was quick, as both the ferry and the 1 train took us to the museum in approximately an hour. This was my first time at an art museum, so I did not know what to truly expect. When we entered the lobby, my unknowledgeable and unartistic self was surprised to find that it was just a big empty space with lots of glass walls and a gift shop. It didn’t really introduce me to an expectation of the art I would see.

However, when the elevator doors released us to the top floor, I realized that it was going to be such a fun but also enlightening experience. The top floor featured an exhibition titled “Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night.” At first, I was confused on what the exhibit was portraying, as the walls were decorated with music notes while there were a variety of art pieces, like sculptures and drawings, mainly composed of words. However, it wasn’t until videos showed Kim using sign language that I realized it was a portrayal of sound art by a deaf artist. It was also very serene and quiet in the exhibition, which allowed the art to communicate much better to the viewer, which was the whole purpose behind the art. Kim communicates her experience as a deaf artist in many ways, as she communicates rage and misunderstanding through word art and sculptures.

After we viewed Christine Sun Kim’s exhibition, we went down to the seventh floor. I like to believe that we all separated to view the art works, but I think I actually got lost. However, I did wander around and manage to find a new piece of artwork that would become one of my favorites. The seventh floor of “the Whitney” portrayed two exhibitions — one named “Claes Oldenburg: Drawn from Life,” and a second being “Untitled” (America). The first exhibition , “Claes Oldenburg: Drawn from Life,” was not particularly of my favorite ones, however it was very cool to see some very fun drawings that had lots of simple inspirations behind them. Oldenburg reimagined objects of daily life and drew them into fun and child-like drawings. My favorite was the one of Mickey Mouse.

Study for Announcement for One-Man Show at Dwan Gallery—Mickey Mouse with Red Heart, 1963

On the contrary, the second exhibition, “Untitled” (America), was one of the best things I have laid my eyes on. There were so many cool paintings in this collection, which had so many different artists and so many different styles. Some of the paintings were more dramatic and depressing, and some were more fun and interesting in a playful way. What I found to be really cool was the portrait of the founder of the Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, which was made by realist painter Robert Henri. I honestly thought that the person in the portrait was Napoleon Bonaparte, so I was surprised to learn it the was the founder of the Whitney museum.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, 1916

However, my favorite piece of artwork was one by Mark Rothko, entitled Four Darks in Red. At first glance, it didn’t really speak to me. However, I read the description and did what Rothko intended the viewer to do, which was to immerse themselves into the world that is created by looking at the painting up close and disregard everything around the canvas. The shades descend from darkest to lightest, representing a heavy weight to a lighter weight as a way to portray emotions and the effects it has on the mind and heart. As Rothko described it, it summons “the basic human emotions – tragedy, ecstasy, doom.” It really is a piece of contemplation, and I believe it became an instant favorite due to my connection with it, especially the feelings of an never ending impending doom and the feelings of tragedies and trauma playing in everyday life.

Four Darks in Red, 1958

Lastly, the group and I made our way down to the sixth floor, which showcased “Shifting Landscapes.” This was a very interesting exhibition, as each piece interprets a “shifting landscape” in many different ways, especially politically and socially. This exhibition had to be one of my favorites of the three, as there were so many different pieces that showcased a shifting landscape, especially with geopolitical issues and ecological issues. I really appreciated how this exhibition was much more history-centered but also had a great emotional value to it. I didn’t have a specific favorite, as each piece was so unique and different than the other.

Just before the group and I ended our trek around the Whitney, we wanted to have a little memory of one of our first memories after beginning college and being with each other outside of school… so we used up our quarters and bought these very fun picture cards from a vending machine. Somehow, I was the chosen one and got both of the secret pictures!!

I had such an amazing time at the Whitney Museum of AmericanArt. A part from the fact I was able to spend time with friends outside of school, the variety of artwork actually made amazing impressions on me, and had made me want to explore more art around New York and maybe even around the world! I would say it was worth missing out on watching the U.S Open final and the soccer match, but that’s just me 🤷‍♂️.