Is it really December 10th?!! It feels like just yesterday I was moving in and celebrating convocation and Parade Night, and now there are just 155 days until graduation. Between five classes, four jobs, and other commitments this semester, I have lost track of time and the weeks have escaped me. Interestingly, since the weather has been so unseasonably warm (I’m not quite complaining!) and because we haven’t had our first snow yet, despite Christmas being just a couple weeks away, I haven’t quite been in the holiday mood just yet. Needing that warm and jolly feeling to help get me through the last few days, I decided to head into Philly to visit the Christmas Market at Love Park. I wasn’t the only one with that idea!

After doing a little bit of shopping, I walked towards City Hall. Walking along Macy’s I noticed the windows were decorated with adorable Peanuts scenes. They were all illuminated, had moving parts, and were drawing lines of people wanting to take their picture with it. Cutting through City Hall to get to Love Park, I was surprised to find a giant Christmas tree that was absolutely beautiful. Just like the window displays, there were rings of people around the tree waiting for their opportunity to get the perfect shot or selfie with the glittery decorations. The only thing missing was Santa! Approaching the Christmas market, I had flashbacks of one I went to in Edinburgh last year. It’s amazing to think about how quickly the last year has gone by and just how much I have grown and changed.

The fountains in front of City Hall were transformed into ice skating rink, and while smaller, it was quite charming and people lined the perimeter drinking cocoa, eating snacks, and watching people skate. I wish I could skate well! It would take a touch more coordination than I currently have 😉 I arrived in the heart of the market around 4pm on Sunday and boy was it crowded! It was so busy it was hard to see what was in each carefully set up and decorated stall. From what I could see, I found everything from jewelry, clothing, antiques, mulled wine, and everything in between…. including “bacon jam”… Whose line was down the walk way! Another tree adorned the park and below it a choir was singing carols and holiday songs. It was chilly and cloudy and so, nearly half way through December, I finally felt like it was the holiday season!

Despite the crowds, my Sunday outing was a perfect break from homework, imminent finals that are approaching a little too quickly, and a great way to help cheer up this tired senior. Done is almost so good!

A snapshot of the PMA I took my sophomore year… it was neat to return as a senior and speak with the people who make the exhibits possible!

What does this Bryn Mawr senior do on the Friday night before Halloween? Spend the evening at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, of course! One of the highlights of my semester has been taking a course called “The Curator in the Museum”, the first class offered by our new Museum Studies program. As a senior, I wish I had more time to explore and learn about the field, but I am happy to know that BMC and Monique Scott, the director, are developing such a unique and incredible program. Dr. Scott teaches the course I am currently in and I’ve fallen in love with the field so much I’ve already put her next course, “Museum Anthropology” on my enrollment list for next semester!

As part of our course, we visit different museums to gain a practical understanding and see how the theory we are studying in class appears in real life. Last Monday we visited the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and this Friday, we found ourselves at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After a highlights tour, we had the opportunity to speak with employees of the museum who worked in community outreach and curating. This element of our class is my favorite because it is so informative and an awesome opportunity to speak with the people who make the exhibits we see and admire possible.

Dance students from a local university perform a piece inspired by a Dia de los Muertos exhibit at the Museum

Every Friday, the PMA offers programming called “Art After 5” centered around a theme related to current events, exhibitions, and public interest. Since it was the Friday before Halloween, they threw a Halloween Bash! Art After 5 is a unique way to draw people into the museum while creating an atmosphere that is completely different than what a patron would find during regular business hours. They had themed cocktail and snack offerings, a DJ and dance floor, and two presentations by local university students.

We decided to stay after our class to see what it was like, and I’m so glad we did. My favorite parts of the evening were the presentations inspired by pieces of art in the museum. They provided an excellent way to connect my museum experience during the day to this special one after hours. In the picture above for example, students performed a piece inspired by a Dia de los Muertos exhibit. The dancers started the dance remaining still off to the side while actors portrayed a museum guide and young man on a tour. The guide explained to the man that he should keep his eyes open because pieces of the exhibit had been rumored to come alive. As the man was writing in a notebook, one of the dancers placed herself right in front of him, scaring the young man, and causing him to run away. The dancers then came to life and performed a beautiful piece.

An art-inspired fashion show by Philadelphia University students

During the second half of the evening, fashion design students from Philadelphia University showcased hat and purses they created with each also being inspired by a work in the museum that struck them. They had to use unusual materials to create their products, so students used everything from twigs to flashing lights to chicken bones (yes, chicken bones!) to make their projects. It was so fun to hear the students explain how their hats and bags were influenced by the paintings and to see the models wearing them proudly.

All in all, it was a very fun way to spend Friday evening and a great compliment to my class experience and learning. Check out my Instagram and Twitter throughout the weekend to see how the rest of Halloween went!

Shops in Center City ready for the Pope’s visit this weekend

Taking advantage of a gap in my schedule, I squeezed into the city to see an exhibit I have been dying to visit before the city essentially shuts down for the Papal visit. Philadelphia has gone into over-drive preparing for the historic visit; closing some train stations, roads, and bridges to try and handle the enormous crowds expected in Center City. Despite the increased number of people in the city, the Franklin Institute was nearly empty! Having been at the museum when it was so crowded we were packed in like sardines, it was a pleasant surprise.

Last winter, an exhibit called the Art of the Brick (AOTB) made its way to the Franklin Institute for a limited engagement. I intended to see it, but my crazy semester got the best of my time, and I didn’t get to before I left for summer. To my surprise, when I arrived back in the fall, I heard that it had been extended by “popular demand”. I assumed it was so popular because of the novelty of the exhibit; its creator Nathan Sawaya said himself that he started making Lego artwork because it hadn’t been done before. But when I stepped into the exhibit, I immediately understood why it had such staying power.

Nathan Sawaya has done much more than recreate famous masterpieces using small, brightly colored pieces of children’s toys; he has created a way to draw emotion from the people visiting his exhibit and even more deeply, to bring them together. After going through the first two halls where there were recreations of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s David, and Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night to just name a few, the final hall contained pieces original to the curator.

Entitled “The Human Condition”, each one had a description with a message from Sawaya about the meaning behind each installment. One of the most amazing elements of the exhibit was how I could see myself in each one of his original creations. He drew on sentiments so common and relevant to our society that you couldn’t help but have your breath taken away and emotions tugged at. Everything from diversity to finding our own voice was beautifully built into human form with hundreds of thousands of Legos as unique as we are.

My words can only speak to a fraction of the meaning behind this exhibit and so if the Art of the Brick comes to a museum near you, I wholeheartedly recommend you see it. I would like to end this post with a picture of my favorite piece. It is just one of the many creations in the AOTB that collectively represent the creativity, inspiration, and hope of this exhibit. In the description next to it, Nathan Sawaya writes,

“Celebrate difference. If everybody looked and was the same, it wouldn’t be a very interesting world, would it? So which shape are you? And which color? The circle, square, and triangle are the fundamental building blocks of all things. And the colors red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors of our world.”