Dear Sarai, Kristen and Veronica....

Thanks for being such a great group... small, but high quality! You "got" the idea for this class right from the start and approached your visits with a perfect attitude of inquiry and discovery...

I'm sure you'll continue to visit museum for your own enjoyment going forward... it is such a great way to spend time with your loved ones as well as continue to learn more about cultural history and contemporary practice....

Good luck and take care!

-Jerry

Thanks for everything

I've loved working with you guys, all of your insights and perspectives have given me much to think about when I look at art. Thanks for making this class feel more like an adventure than work. Good luck, and hopefully our paths will cross!

Good Luck

Thank you all for your kind posts!!! I wish you all good luck in your future en devours!


Good luck! =)

Farewell All

I just wanted to say goodbye to everyone as today is the last day of this class. I really enjoyed visiting the museums and have learned so much, more than I had expected I would learn. Visiting the museums has really given me a new outlook on art and art history. I never really knew that so many famous artists lived and performed work in Connecitcut; it has really opened my eyes. This is only the beginning of my museum appreciation endeavor; I hope to visit many more. I also enjoyed being able to read your posts as well; reading your perspective was fascinating.
Good luck and farewell.
Warm Regards,
Sarai

My photo galleries

Hi Guys,
Just wanted to check in and let you all know that I posted the photos of my visits to the Florence Griswold Museum and the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. I hope you like the pics! Sorry it took me so long to figure out what I'm doing, but now that I've got a pretty good grasp of the blogging concept I think I may keep this going for a while. I love museums, but I may broaden the visits to include libraries. I am a bit of a bibliophile, and I bring my kids to the local library of every town we visit. They love it, and we've seen a lot of really cool buildings. If you're interested in that sort of thing, or know of any interesting libraried, please let me know where they are, and check into my blog periodically! One last thing, let me know if I can improve on any of my posts before the grades close. Thanks!

Hey guys...

Hi all,
Why does life have to always seem so hectic!? Things have just been really crazy here the past couple of weeks it seems. I love that I can post anytime and not have to wait for class :) - that helps. I visited the Lyman Allyn Art Museum and will be posting that visit shortly; I am just finishing it up. Today I visited the Hill-stead museum. Oh my gosh, I think that that has been my most enjoyable visit! Don't get me wrong, I love every museum that I have been to but this one really got me the most excited. I will have that post up soon too. Only like 3 days left of this class. It is always nice to finish a class but I will miss having this one to do!

Oh boy!!!

A response to Jerry's comment (since I dont know how to comment back any other way)..

Im sad!!! lol I thought Thomas Kinkade was a great painter!! This just goes to show how ignorant I am with these paintings.


=( :tear:

I always said that I wish I was "artsy", but that just isn't me.. im more of a scientific person. But I am glad to have had the opportunity to visit these museums to expand my mind and fill out the cob webs with something else.

Tomorrow I will be going to visit the museum in Old Lyme... Then I have realized that I have 3 museums in total that I have to post before Wednesday, Im not quite sure how that happened... hmm......

My Visit to the Computer

Ok, I'm blogging about blogging out of frustration, so bear with me during this mini-rant. In a failed attempt to post a slideshow of my Museum of Fine Art photos I nearly obliterated my entire blog. Then, I had such a clever advertisement to post here to lure you to my blog and check them out, but that sort of imploded, too. This, my friends, is what I get for being born too late! The virtual world is an enigma. So, all this fussing aside, I will say that the Museum of Fine Arts was a lovely showcase of scultpures, paintings, instruments, photographs, pottery and artifacts. It had a little something about nearly everything, and it was an interesting adventure to wander through the building. When my pictures are up, by tomorrow I hope, you'll also see my brother and sister in law, as well as my kids. We had such a great time there, so I figured I'd include them in the post.

Good Evening,

I wanted to share this book with you all but unfortunately since we don't all meet together in a classroom, I can't. I guess I can at least tell you a little about it. This book was given to my by my Father last week. It is book that is composed of many paintings of many different highly recognized artists as well as photos of antique furniture. I was even able to find paintings and information on Willard Metcalf (artist's work that I was introduced to at Florence Griswold). All of the paintings and antiques that are included inside this book were once located at Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. in Hartford, CT. The reason that my father had this book is because he served as a docent for this collection. Unfortunately, some big head honcho decided that the company would benefit from selling the collection rather than continuing to have it on display - so all of the items were sold. The only memory of the collection is this book, one of only a few copies I am told. I thought the story interesting and wanted to share it with you. As I flip through the paintings and captions I find other beautiful pieces from artists like Weir, Church, and Loomis. This is one for instance where I wish we met in person so that I could share.

Visits

My visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art is up on my blog, although the pictures will be coming soon (hopefully tonight). I have to sort through and organize what came from where because I also visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I have to say that even though trying to complete these assignments during the school vacation week when both my kids were home was a challenge I barely survived (mentally), we all learned a lot and I'm happy they got to check out some interesting things. They both now talk about the museum all the time, so it was as fun as it was exhausting!

Hmm...

Well I'm not quite sure what is going on! lol I made my post on Wednesday night and I go in today to make sure that I did it correctly and my pictures were GONE!! I apologize to anyone who tried to view it and had an error. I had issues with the post that night and that could be why they were missing. Hopefully they will stay there this time! I just went back in and put the pictures in.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Opps!!

So as I am rereading through the syllabus, I realize that I am suppose to be posting here as well!! I'm new to the whole online class thing, since it is a lot different than the blended courses offered at Albertus.

I apologize for not posting in the past week as my mom was in the hospital. Everything is fine now, but it was def. a crazy week! I have a few museums to post and I am going to be posting on the New Britain museum tonight. Please check back later tonight for my report.

Hi all!

I have posted my visit to the Yale Art Gallery on my blog. The African Art, without a doubt, took its hold on me! I have included several photos of the unique and interesting items I encountered there. Check it out… African art is a form of art that is undoubtedly in a class of its own. I hope you are all having as awesome of a time as I am. It is really cool that a class can be this much fun!

The Pace of the Post

Well, what can I say? I was off to such a great start, and here I find myself falling a week behind! My visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts were both thrilling and, dare I say, aesthetically intoxicating! These museums are full of strange and beautiful exhibits, I've thought so much about the artists I've been introduced to. However, with last week being a vacation week for the public schools, my routine for visiting/writing had been interrupted. I'll be caught up within the next two days!

Checking in...

Good Afternoon Everyone,
I just wanted to check in and see how you are all enjoying your museum visits! I have just posted my visit to the Florence Griswold museum on my blog if you are interested. It was an awesome place, certainly a different experience than my visit to the Met and Wadsworth. I enjoy how different each museum is. Taking these trips really makes me realize that museums come in all forms.
I enjoy reading your posts also. It is especially interesting to read your accounts of museums that I have been to as well and how our experiences differ.

Soaking up the rays!

As I was venturing around the Wadsworth, I stumbled upon this woman. When I first saw her, I thought, what in the world is someone doing in a museum in a bathing suit and a beach chair? I was thinking I can’t be really seeing this! Of course, I quickly realized if the museum even allowed such a thing, who would do it? But doesn’t she look so real…

I couldn’t believe how life like someone was able to make this figure. As I leaned over her to take a picture, I felt like her eyes were going to open and I would have to explain to her why I was taking her photo! I just wanted to share this with you for those of you who haven’t seen her yet. It was pretty funny and interesting at the same time. Yet another form of art!

Hello fellow classmates,
I am really enjoying this class, one of the reasons being, you can't see me! I am not looking the greatest or feeling it either. I have caught some kind of flu bug and haven't been able to make it out of the house until today. On top of that my husband conveniently dowloaded a virus into our computer and has been at the repair shop for the past five days, not sure when I am getting it back. That being said, I do not have my appropriate photo shop that I am familiar with, so I hope my picture comes through okay.
I ventured out to the Wadsworth today in my feable state. I thought I might not make it; however, I managed to get through the building. I was fotunate enough to have my boss take me as I thought he would be a good curator through the museum as he was an employee there for many years.
I found the great hall to be such an extravagant place, more so than the exterior of the building. It felt almost invigorating to walk through the magnificent hall and admire the works of art that hung about. I enjoyed this visit as much as the last; although, walking through the Wadsworth compared to the Met was a very different experience.
Okay, I just attempted to add the photo; however, something doesn't seem to be working here on my Dad's laptop. So I will have to scratch that idea for the moment. I am obviously posting this anyway. I will add the picture to my paper I post on my blog.
I am going to get going along and try to nurse myself back to health. I hope you all are doing a bit better than I am!

Visits So Far

Hi Everyone,
I just thought I'd check in with you guys to see how everyone's enjoying the class. I know we're supposed to post to (that's funny) the class blog every week, so I figured I'd make a general statement about visiting museums so far. I appreciate the fact that every week it is required of me to take an entire afternoon to myself. This is a luxury I've not had since my daughter was born in '03, so the silence is deafening at times! Once I've been at the museum for about an hour, though, I find that I'm so absorbed in the exhibits. This is probably the only time during the week that I'm completely focused and not thinking about what my kids are into and up to. This is refreshing, and I don't feel at all guilty about it!
So far the Yale Art Gallery has been my favorite stop. Something about that building just feels alive to me, and as I walked from room to room I had the sense that I was literally going with the flow. I suppose in ancient terms, and now in fashionable terms, the feng shui in that place is exactly on point!
I hope everyone else is enjoying their trips, too. I know that I've learned a lot from reading everyone else's posts, and I appreciate being in a class with other people who are thoughtful and insightful. Thanks!
Kristen

Kristen's First Post

Hi All,

I wanted to invite you over to Kristen's blog to take a look at her post about her visit to the Yale Art Gallery. If you are trying to work out how to proceed, please take a moment to read her piece. She combines a great first person narrative description of the museum, its creator (the Architect Louis Kahn) and sense of place as she describes in visual language what she saw both in the building and in the artwork...

Nice going!

My day at the Met

Good Afternoon,

This week I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY city. Wow, what a place! I can't even describe in words the experience. It is such an amazing thing to see and I couldn't even see it all in one day. My father and I took the train into the city and spent several hours there and didn't even get through the whole museum. It was awesome!

I haven included a picture from the front of the museum of the detail that went into just the outside. Let alone the inside...

The building itself is a work of art and the art inside is just as unbelieveable. I hope that I can get back there again to see all the rest of it. It was truly a day that I will remember.

My Blog

Good Morning,
I have set up my blog at the following address:
http://sledoux.blogspot.com/
I am still in the process of figuring out how this all works but I have posted a little about me and my schedule to it. I am going to be visiting the Metropolitan on Wednesday with my Dad, so I will post some pics when I get back.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
-Sarai

Hello classmates!
My name is Kristen Melillo and I'm very excited to be part of this class. I look forward to sharing my museum experiences and reading about yours.

Hopefully this works!

Hello Everyone,
My name is Sarai Ledoux. I am attempting to post to this blog. If this seems to be successful, I will of course post again!
-Sarai

What is due this week?

Welcome all! This is the first week of class. We will use this as the set up week to get all systems operating. During this week you should:

- Read the syllabus, click through the links provided and understand what will be required of you in this class.

- Respond to the email from blogger and click on the link which will take you to a sign in page to join this blog, The Museum Experience. If you don't have a Gmail account, you will cick on the link there and take a minute to create an account. Use that log in to access this blog. Gmail is a Google company that has an amazing array of free services that could change your life... so don't be shy here.... Remember to write down your username (your new email address) and password.

-Create your own blog. This takes a few minutes... choose a template, click publish and you are ready to post to it. Tell us a little about yourself as a first post. You may use the post editor as your word processor to actually write your paper. Please post images with your papers from your outing. Include shots of the museum, and the piece that you are writing about. Use close up shots to help illustrate points you are making in your paper. Papers should be 650 - 900 words long. You may find it easier to use Word to write... Use Tools>Word Count to count your words to check your progress. Take a look at Museum Experience student Tad Gembala's blog to see what I am expecting:

http://silvertone22.blogspot.com/

-Review the class calendar. There are 6 trips out to museums, three assigned and 3 of your choice on the list in the syllabus. Create your first post to your blog with an outline of the trips you will be taking, with dates. Put them on your calendar, invite friends and family and most of all, have fun with this. This is essentially a travel course... you need to travel to do it. You may visit other museums then the the ones listed in the Syllabus. You may find yourself traveling to other cities out of the state for business or pleasure... Check with me first though... Here is a link to the calendar.

-You will write 4 "papers" with photographs and 2 "photo albums" with captions recording your impressions from your museum visits...

-Line up a digital camera and learn how to use it. Learn how to get your images onto your computer, edit them and upload them to the blog. This is easy to do with free Picasa software from Google. http://picasa.google.com/ Learn how to turn off the flash on your camera as flash is never allowed inside the museums.

-Class will run from Wednesday morning at 11 am until Wednesdayat 11am. I will grade each week's work Wednesday morning before 11 am. Because unexpected things can happen, there will be a make-up week during the final week of class where you will have the opportunity to make up the grade for 1 week that you missed. Post comments on each others posts and post to this blog each week. Use this blog to tell everyone what you are doing and to invite others to visit your blog as well. At least 1 letter grade will reflect your posting and helpfulness to others in this online community. If you don't contribute, the highest grade you can earn for the week will be a "B".

-Post your blog address and your screen name that you use here in the "comment" link to this post. Or create a new post and put your address there. I won't beable to find you unless you tell me your address.

-Review the video I created on how to post to this blog. (Link on upper left also.)

-All of this will be completed by Wednesday morning, March 12th. If you wish, you can get a head start on your visits and writing and begin your first project this week too.

-Email me if you would like me to call you to help walk you through any of this...

A business major who took this class a couple of years ago remarked, "I never knew that you could take a day and plan an outing to a museum with your family and have a great time! This has been a great experience!" This sums up my hopes and dreams for you in taking this class.

Hot to Post to This Blog.

Click To Play

Welcome to Mod 3, Museum Experience class

Hello everyone! and welcome to the class blog for the Mod 3 class, AH251, The Museum Experience. Here we will post images and comments each week about your adventures on the road as you travel around in your search for the sublime! I will be emailing everyone instructions on how to post on the first day of class.

To get the most out of your online class this Mod, it is important to communicate regularly with other members of the class and with me in this forum..... in fact, it is part of your grade. Post often and post early, to paraphrase a famous statement. I'm looking forward to this experience with you. It is my sincere hope that this class will be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience for you.

I'd like you to create your own blog as well as join this blog. There you will post your papers and photos on a weekly basis. Be sure to post here as this is where we build the class community. Remember to put a link to your blog along with your post here. I'll build links to your blog in the upper right hand corner as soon as I know your addresses...

I tookthis photograph at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Greek collection... notice she has a sketch book in hand and she is seated, taking her time to really study this relief...