Hear From Our Students About Their New York City Art Trip

Over winter break, some of the 7th and 8th graders went on a trip to New York City to learn about art. We got to the airport at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday and started the plane ride at 10:30 a.m. We got to New York at 7:00 p.m. New York time (3 hours ahead). For dinner, we ate New York style pizza and everyone enjoyed the hot meal before bed after the long flight.

 

On Monday, we woke up bright and early to explore the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). We were able to see The Starry Night. It was an eye-opening experience! Seeing the progression of art over many decades was really interesting. We got to see that everything has an aspect of art embedded in it. Later that day, we were able to go to another MOMA museum, PS1. It was an old school house that was transformed into an immersive art exhibit. We were able to sit in a room with a section of the roof gone to experience the world while being inside. Later that night we went to Times Square to stand and observe the busyness of New York City. While at Times Square, we saw all of the famous billboards. To wrap up our first full day in New York, we watched Wicked the musical.

 

Tuesday, we started off the day by getting breakfast at the hotel and packing our lunches. We later went to Hudson Yards and The Highline to look at some of the sculptures that live there. After that, we went to the Chelsea Galleries to learn about Mika Tajima, Jennifer Guidi, and Delcy Morelos. For lunch, we went to Washington Square Park to eat the lunch we packed. When we finished eating we went to the Harry Potter store. We couldn’t believe how much detail the store had that matched the books and movies. There was so much to buy and it was an amazing experience. Last, to finish up our second day in New York, we saw the Dallas Stars vs New York Rangers hockey game. We ate dinner from the shops there. All of us really got into the game, cheered with all the fans, and overall just had a great time.

 

Wednesday, we spent the morning enjoying Central Park. We explored the Strawberry Field, and learned the history of Seneca Village. After a quick lunch break consisting of sandwiches, we roamed SoHo and viewed artworks such as Broken Kilometer, the Earth Room, and Basquiat’s Studio. While observing the art, we listened to brief summaries of each piece made by our fellow students. For dinner, we dined at John’s Pizza, a restaurant serving delicious pizzas and other foods. To finish off the day, we watched Back to the Future. The musical was humorous and entertaining. After the show was over, we were able to meet some of the cast and get our playbills signed.

 

On Thursday, we spent the morning at the Whitney Museum. Later in the afternoon, we took a ferry to Governors Island. We had tons of fun playing on obstacle courses, slides, and seeing the Statue of Liberty. Shortly after, we took the ferry back and walked to Hamilton's grave. We then walked to the 9/11 memorial. To end our day, we went to the top of the One World Trade Center Observatory. As the trip was coming to an end, on Friday, we visited the Grand Central Station. The architecture was intricate and detailed. We took a train to Beacon, where we went on a tour of all the artworks at Dia Beacon. Some of them were extremely simple, like a fence, but others were complicated, like a pile of broken glass. In the evening, we traveled to the Rockefeller Center to do a bit of shopping. We split into groups and shopped at the Lego Store, FAO Schwarz, the Nintendo Store, and others. To end the day off, we dined at the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

Overall, we had a fun, informative, and delicious trip to New York City. We would invite all 7th and 8th grade students to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime adventure!