The art teacher in my high school always had this quote posted outside her door.  I don’t know who said it but the quote was “Earth without Art is just Eh.”  It was clever and I always used it to think about music because I was a band geek and that was the art form I loved most.  But after walking through the Johnson Museum for the first time I think the quote finally made sense to me for the visual arts.  From the sculptures to ancient artifacts from different cultures to the laser room you can see what it means.  How boring would life be if we didn’t personalize and decorate basically every aspect of our lives?  Some of the paintings were so detailed and realistic that I thought they were just photographs until I read the description.

One of my favorite exhibits I saw were these murals that were painted in a hospital and had to be uncovered from layers of paint that went over them.  I learned that the murals are actually going to be placed in Cornell’s new tech school in NYC once the campus is completed.  It was truly amazing to hear how much work and effort went into recovering and restoring the original works so that they still reflected the initial intent of the creator.

I think the best part about the tour was that I made a bunch of new friends in Rose Scholars.  I usually go with other Rose Scholars I know but this one I went to last minute by myself.  I’m glad to say that it was a very fun experience meeting new people and getting to explore and appreciate the art with them.