But if I had to choose a single destination where I’d be held captive for the rest of my time in New York, I’d choose the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Tim Gunn
Photographer and friend, Felicity Jenkins, and I visited New York for 3 weeks to soak up art, museums and take photographs. We stayed in Brooklyn, close to Prospect Park, and only a 20 minute subway ride on either the B or Q line into Manhattan. The scale of this city was something I had not completely prepared for. We had been warned to throw out all expectations of seeing everything we wanted to see within our 3 weeks... this turned out to be true. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is so extensive that I could have spent the entire trip exploring this labyrinth alone. On my hit list was; MoMA, The Guggenheim and The Frick Museum.
I don't think I'll ever forget the experience of turning a corner at the Metropolitan Museum and stumbling across a painting I'd only ever seen in art history books or on a slide at art school. The thrill of being up close and personal to artworks famous for their contribution to art history will never fade. During my visit to New York I stood in front of paintings by Turner, Daumier, Van Gogh, Pollack, Monet, Cézanne just to name a few! In a 'sliding doors' moment, I wondered where I would be in my career as an artist should I have chosen painting as a major at art school and continued on that path. Being amongst such great paintings has inspired me to reacquaint myself with painting in 2016.
Central Park would also be a highlight of the trip, with its autumn colours still on display and vast walking tracks meandering past lakes, fountains and scenes from movies. With a population of 1.6 million, Manhattan needs a place of calm, beauty and refuge. The park comes alive with buskers of varying talents. One day while walking around the lake, we happened upon a woman requesting a topic for a personalised poem. I offered 'friendship' as a topic and she continued to riff for several minutes then launched into a song. Her energy and joy was infectious and certainly made my day.
Other places of interest we visited were Coney Island, The Brooklyn Museum, The Lincoln Centre (to watch 'The Nutcracker'), Empire State building, Staten Island, Brighton Beach, The 911 memorial, The Brooklyn Bridge, The Highline, Prospect Park Botanical Gardens and zoo.
