On Wednesday, September 9, we went to the Brooklyn Museum. At first, I wasn’t too psyched to be spending my night staring at pieces of art. I can’t lie – I was more excited to see my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t bummed out or annoyed or anything, I just wasn’t too excited.

After the introductory session at the museum, I got a group together, and we began roaming around the museum. We took a look at a few paintings, and I read the descriptions for all of them. They seemed pretty interesting, but nothing too special.

As the night progressed, however, and I saw more works of art and read more about different paintings, I started to realize that I was actually starting to enjoy myself. I was no art critic, and I’m sure many comments I made sounded flat-out dumb, but I knew that these comments were my comments, and that gave them a genuine, pure feeling.

My favorite work of art in the museum was “Fallen Bierstadt”, by Valerie Hegarty. It shows a Bierstadt imitation, however, the bottom of the painting is burnt and decaying, with burnt pieces of the painting laying like ashes on the floor underneath. This painting stuck out like a sore thumb, yet somehow, it simultaneously blended into the environment, and seemed to be in its natural place. This paradox really fascinated me, and I was hooked on this painting.