Hello! I’m Samantha Myers, one of the new bloggers for AAP NYC this Spring Semester. I am a sophomore student majoring in Fine Arts. Firstly, I’d like to ask, where does the time go? It sure flies when living in the city. This Friday, February 15th marks one month since I have moved into the city along with my three roommates and fellow artists. We are residing all the way downtown in Battery City, and so far we love our new home. We are right across the street from Battery Park and have stunning views of the water and the Statue of Liberty.
A quick subway ride uptown brings us to Chelsea, where the AAP building is located. Since there are only four art students in NYC for this semester, we each get sizable individual desk spaces and we share a “wet-room” for all the messy projects we may take on. There are a lot of perks that comes with being one of only four art students, and a large amount of workspace is one of them. Another perk is individualized attention from professors in each of four classes. This semester we are taking Perspectives on Metro Studies with Masha Panteleyeva, Studio with John Jurayj, Professional Practice with Jane Farver, and New York City Seminar with Jane Benson. In addition to these classes, each of us has an individual internship that we go to on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
After only living here for a month, I’ve already fallen in love with the city. I have learned so much and even feel like I’ve grown up more. To try to accurately describe my first month at AAP, I’ll highlight the things that my life seems to revolve around:
1. Subway Rides
The subway system is probably the most important thing one needs to learn about when moving to the city. Without the subway system, it would be nearly impossible to get to the places that you need to go to in a short amount of time. And there are many places you will have to go to. Learning the subway system came the hard way, unfortunately. I didn’t get on a subway until the third day living in the city. (I admit I was avoiding it.) One of my roommates Olivia and I planned to go uptown to shop and go out to lunch. We purchased our monthly unlimited Metro Cards and hopped on what we thought was the correct train. I guess we weren’t paying attention to the stops because before we knew it, we weren’t in Manhattan any more. Once we stepped out of the subway station and didn’t see any skyscrapers around, we knew we had made a huge mistake. We had taken the train in the opposite direction to which we wanted, and we found ourselves in Long Island City. At least we think we ended up in Long Island City, to this day we aren’t even sure. Thankfully we were able to seek advice from friendly strangers who pointed us onto the correct subway train and we returned to Manhattan. I guess it was good to get the big subway mistake out of our way quickly, because now I’m extra aware about whether I’m taking the Uptown or Downtown train. Just today I made a trip to Brooklyn that required three different train transfers. No mistakes made. It may seem like the most complicated system ever when you are entirely new to this type of transportation system, but after a week or so, the system becomes your best friend. (Any transportation system that avoids taxi fare is a friend of yours.)
2. Food
While the food in New York City is absolutely delicious and you can find any type of cuisine you desire, it is much more expensive than what you’ll probably be used to. Hmmm, would I rather buy that new Marc Jacobs purse or feed myself for a week? Just kidding, it’s not that expensive, but it does burn a hole in your wallet especially if you eat out for every meal. It’s important to cook for yourself whenever you have the time because often times you’re going to have to eat out or grab food because you are too busy or tired to actually make it. Eat out, wisely. Grocery stores are still expensive, but not as bad as restaurants, fast food and take out. I’ve even heard that some people attempt to avoid New York prices so much that they take weekly train trips out to New Jersey and lug there bags of cheaper items back into Manhattan. In a busy schedule that seems very unrealistic. As long as you keep an eye on what you spend and practice restraint, you’ll be fine. The best thing about New York food is its accessibility. There are two delis and a convenience store surrounding my apartment building, not to mention a string of tavern restaurants about five minutes away. Have I mentioned delivery yet? It’s the absolute best. Remember that blizzard we had last week where we got a foot of snow? My roommates and I got delivery from the diner down the street at one o’clock in the morning. It’s amazing, it really is.
3. Looking at Art
Part of being an Art major in New York City is taking advantage of what the city has to offer. Every single class this semester has taken us to at least one gallery or museum exhibition during class time. Often, for classes like Professional Practice and New York City Seminar we will be roaming around galleries and museums in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan for the entire class period. All over the city! (See the importance of subways, here) Part of our homework for these classes is to visit galleries recommended by teachers on our own time as well.
4. Talking about Art
First comes looking at art, next comes talking about art. Discourse is an extremely important procedure to fully interpret and understand art. Each time we visit a gallery or exhibition we have an in-depth conversation about it. Writing about art is another important ability. Most classes ask that we write our own review of a show after we have seen it in order to become familiar with art terms and ideas as well as fluent in the language used to talk about art. Constantly articulating your opinions and ideas about art that you have seen ultimately helps you to express your concept in your own art.
5. Making Art
Lastly, once you have looked at art and discussed art, you can make your art. (You can do it in any order, but I believe this order is most effective in my artistic process). Creativity comes to the surface a lot faster when you are constantly being exposed to the creativity of others. This city is endlessly inspiring.
Well, this is just an overall gist of the amazing month I’ve had so far. I’ll get into detail about specific experiences in blog posts to come. Thanks for reading!
-SAM
