Night at the Museum

Your Reflections

This page compiles your reflections on art, community, museums, and more, informed by your time at Night at the Museum.

To have your own reflection appear on this page, submit a reflection of your own.

Analog fan? You can also respond to these prompts on paper and peruse the responses of others. Come find our table on the third floor.

  • Compare how this experience reinforced or challenged your previous ideas about museums. Would you encourage other Macaulay students to visit museums?

    This experience challenged my previous Ideas. I feel like I always see the same type of art every time I go to museums. Even when I see different sections, I always think of it being very similar things in every museum. However, I found that there were even more sections and types of art that i’d never come across before. Entirely different genres and styles I’ve never seen before. I was taken aback by many of the bright ideas the museum had to offer and sections where people were completely nude yet it showed the topic of genre perfectly. I would encourage Macaulay students to visit museums because it shows you a different side of culture and ideas that you never would’ve known of. Every piece of work is interesting in its own way.

    Elizabeth Fernandez

    City College

  • Choose a piece of art you saw that invoked strong feelings for you. Describe the response you had and why. (Don’t forget to include the title and artist.)

    One of the first pieces of art that I found when walking into the museum was Assyrian Art. It reminded me of the Assyrian culture and how their unity has been challenged by persecutions. I relate to this, coming from an Armenian background, which is facing many homeland wars and struggling through former genocides.

    Suzanna G.

    College of Staten Island

  • Compare how this experience reinforced or challenged your previous ideas about museums. Would you encourage other Macaulay students to visit museums?

    I really appreciated how this museum displayed all of the works of art. It added to the atmosphere of each specific pieces of art and overall elevated my experience looking through the museum. I liked the burst of colors that you could see from a previous section of the museum that leaves an anticipation to keep looking around. I would encourage others to visit museums because it is very calming to look around at art and see how people express their emotions.

    Karuna Aikawa

    City College

  • Choose a piece of art you saw that invoked strong feelings for you. Describe the response you had and why. (Don’t forget to include the title and artist.)

    John Henry Twachtman’s Meadow Flowers (1892) caught my eye because of its use of color and its mundane but aesthetic subject matter. The pale purples and oranges comprise a subdued color palette, but the painting is still visually pleasing and has an unassuming playfulness to it.

    City College

  • Choose a piece of art you saw that invoked strong feelings for you. Describe the response you had and why. (Don’t forget to include the title and artist.)

    Harmonia Rosales’ Ori deeply moved me with its reimagining of divinity through an Afro-centric lens. The serene yet powerful portrayal of a Black woman, entwined with symbols of creation, felt like a reclaiming of beauty and strength. The painting stirred pride in me, challenging Eurocentric standards and celebrating Black womanhood and spirituality. The fusion of elegance, strength, and ancestral knowledge invoked a sense of reverence, making me reflect on the importance of representation and the sacredness within us all.

    Ernila Zenelaj

    City College

  • Where and how do you see yourself, your communities, and/or New Yorkers in this museum?

    The different cultures represented in these pieces of art are reflective of those found in the city. I saw objects related to daily use, entertainment, and plain portraits. Each of them displayed something key to the culture represented or that of the artist.

    Though many of these pieces of art are from over a century ago, the themes are applicable today and are proof of long-term impact of big events such as colonization. The more modern pieces are even more reflective of the issues and experiences of the typical New Yorker.

    Elizabeth Guerrero

    Hunter College

  • Choose a piece of art you saw that invoked strong feelings for you. Describe the response you had and why. (Don’t forget to include the title and artist.)

    This artwork stood out to me particularly because of the contrasting expressions. The two figures are supposedly the same people, a woman and her reflection. But the woman has a softer expression while her reflection has more of a dark and angry one. This evoked strong emotions within me because I was reminded of two-faced individuals. That is what I think it symbolizes; you cannot trust a person as easily. The woman is dressed in white, symbolizing purity and beauty and innocence. But her reflection, something that she can only see, is showing her actual colors. This painting is depicting a woman in her private moments, alone with no one else but herself. Its beautiful and powerful, reminding us of the sides that we don’t want the world to see. (Un Regard Fugitif, Mary Sheppard Greene)

    Maliha Chowdhury

    Hunter College

  • Choose a piece of art you saw that invoked strong feelings for you. Describe the response you had and why. (Don’t forget to include the title and artist.)

    Title: The Arm Wrestle of Chip & Spike; aka
    Star-Makers
    Artist: Oscar Yi Hou

    It was one of the first paintings that I saw and it just struck me because of its vivid colors and abstract aspects. I was surprised and awed by the piece because it was very chaotic but also kept the main focus on the two friends. Overall, I thought it was appealing and very cool.

    Uyen

    City College

  • Choose a piece of art you saw that invoked strong feelings for you. Describe the response you had and why. (Don’t forget to include the title and artist.)

    The piece of art that stood out to me and invoked strong feelings in me was a painting called “Sunset at Sea” by Thomas Moran. This is an oil painting that was interestingly created after Thomas Moran’s voyage to England by the Atlantic. I found it very interesting how bright colors were used to demonstrate the sunset against the waves that may be aggressive at times. However, as a whole this painting made me feel a sense of calm because of the bright colors used to demonstrate the sun peaking out from the clouds as the sunsets. So although it may seem that simultaneously with the vibrant sun there is some chaos from the waves and gray clouds, I believe that this helps to create an image of what the voyage was possibly like across the Atlantic Ocean.

    Milana Agronova

    Brooklyn College

  • Compare how this experience reinforced or challenged your previous ideas about museums. Would you encourage other Macaulay students to visit museums?

    In this museum I saw a diverse range of artwork, from ancient Persian art to modern artwork from black artists. This aspect reinforced the idea of museums being home to various cultures. However, some of the pieces’ focus on exclusion from the art world made me realize that museums hadn’t always been a place for people of many racial and gender identities, and I wonder what perspectives are currently being silenced, both at the Brooklyn Museum and other museums around the world.

    Bushra Rahman

    Hunter College