NYC Art Trip by Morgan Cole, ‘03
The group set out for a full day of gallery inspiration in the Chelsea District. You might think that spending the time period between 11am and 6pm might be too long, but no one saw all the galleries in that time frame. We were able to see the majority, but not even close to all of them.
The galleries are spaces with boards that select highly acclaimed artists to show a series of drawings, paintings, sculptures, or whatever the artist chooses as their medium for a short period of time. The shows are constantly changing and new shows are being installed all the time. Some of the most famous galleries such as Matthew Marks Gallery and Paul Cooper Gallery are found in this district. It was refreshing to meet several visitors in the galleries were lovers of art, and not necessarily students or artists.
Our group of 17 students and four faculty members all split up into smaller groups and zig-zagged back and forth through the streets going to gallery after gallery. Thankfully, we were able to take pictures of the works because after a while, it began to become overwhelming at the amount of information and processing that our brains were doing. Literally, we all were almost on art overload, but it was lovely. We all love art.
For lunch, the whole group went to New York Burger Company, which was a trendy burger joint, similar to a higher end Five Guys restaurant. They had great Hagen-Daaz ice cream shakes, sweet potato fries, grass fed beef patties, and about a dozen different types of artesian ketchups (Chipotle Ranch, Basil Pesto, Mesquite tomato and so on). We all ate and swapped gallery notes. After that big meal everyone was super full, but slightly rejuvenated and ready to tackle more of the galleries.
We continued gallery hopping until 6pm when we met back up and took the subway back to our hotel. Once back everyone split up again and went off to eat. Some went out for Indian and others to local Chinese take-away. The city came alive more than it had on the other nights, probably because it was Saturday.
And that’s a wrap! Day 3 was highly successful. Memories were made, friendships strengthened, and artists inspired. We are all looking forward to being back in the great state of South Carolina and making art!