“Ahead of its official reopening date on Saturday, August 29 (with early access for members from August 27-28), the Met has partnered with the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives (TA) to serve patrons who prefer the socially distant option of bicycling to the museum instead of using the subway or buses.
The unlikely valet service will be available from Saturday this week through September 27. The bicycles will be parked at the Met’s plaza on Fifth Avenue, north of the museum’s main steps.”
“In their provocative book, Art as Therapy, Alain de Botton and John Armstrong suggest that, “Since the beginning of the twentieth century, our relationship with art has been weakened by a profound institutional reluctance to address the question of what art is for.” The authors propose a radical re-shifting of curatorial training and museum structures to prioritize the healing offered by artworks that invite us to remember, love, mourn, and grow.
Indeed, our training and structures may need to be altered to make necessary change happen. Perhaps our organizational charts should be framed not by academic discipline, but by function and impact. Perhaps we should train our professionals, even our curators, not only in art historical research but also in the facilitation of personal responses to art. In other words, perhaps all museum employees should take responsibility for the impact on the visitor of the objects we choose to display.”
