A couple days before I left campus for Thanksgiving break, I made my first “proper” trip to the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. I had visited the museum briefly during orientation, but I’d never gotten the chance to really look around and explore. My first-year seminar professor gave me an assignment to go to the art museum and write about a piece of artwork that spoke to me or caught my eye.
When I got to the museum and headed into the galleries, I felt at peace. Not only was the art interesting and beautiful, but the physical space of the museum was calming and gave me the chance to unwind a bit while looking at all the various works of art. It was easy to just sit down and look closely at so many of the pieces and the quiet atmosphere was so peaceful. It’s easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed with the amount of work I’m doing here at Mount Holyoke, yet when I stepped into the museum and began looking around, I was at ease.
Up to that point, I hadn’t really found a spot on campus where I felt I could both relax and also do something interesting or productive. I found that at the art museum that day. I enjoyed looking at the different works of art, learning about the history behind all the paintings, and just being in the space. It was quiet, bright, and the perfect space for reflection and letting go of everything else going on at that moment. It’s hard to say if I have a favorite spot on campus yet — when it was still warm and sunny, Skinner Green may have been the place — but the art museum certainly provided me with some much needed time to think before heading into finals season.
The painting I ended up writing on was one called Grand Manan by Alfred Thompson Bricher. The beautiful beach scene certainly brought back memories of warmer days, now that we are experiencing winter for real — complete with snowstorms and incredible amounts of fog.
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