On December 13, 2024, the rest of the Haldane Art Club and I had the privilege of going to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). We arrived via bus and purchased our own lunch, but there was no cost for admission, which I found extremely generous.

We were split into two groups and given a theme. My group’s theme was “identity,” and we searched the museum to find three pieces of artwork that were related to this theme. My favorite piece that we looked at for this theme was Frida Kahlo’s “Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair.” The piece portrayed Kahlo as a man, and she painted it in 1940. We then went around and talked about what we thought “Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair “more broadly represented. Everyone who participated had very thoughtful contributions as to its context. It was Kahlo’s way of commenting on the fact that male artists were more respected at the time this piece was created, and that, if she were a man, she would have gotten more recognition. It also represented her independence, as she painted this piece not long after a divorce.

In my opinion, this trip was an amazing opportunity to see some great pieces of artwork. And while we didn’t have time for the whole museum, the works we did see were wonderful and had many interesting stories behind them.

I interviewed a couple of my peers on what they thought about the trip, and what their favorite part was. “It was a really enjoyable experience,” freshman Katherine Botros said. “And my favorite part must have been getting to see the real “Starry Night” [by Vincent van Gogh].” Freshman Caitlin Alves also expressed awe at seeing “Starry Night.” “The MoMA trip was very fun. Seeing ‘Starry Night’ was shocking and I didn’t expect to see it. It was very fun, but I wish we could have done a little bit more.”

Overall, while we wished we had gotten to see the whole museum, we all had a lot of fun and were grateful for the opportunity to see and interact with some of the most famous art pieces.