The Arboretum

This was my first time at the Arboretum and I was extremely excited because it reminded me of the Botanical Gardens back home in the Bronx, a place I’ve always wanted to go.  The Arboretum also reminded me of Claude Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France, a place I was fortunate enough to be able to visit two springs ago.  Spending some time at the Arboretum brought me back to that day in France, the day that I was encircled by beauty.  I had never been so inspired and happy in my life.  Seeing all the different flowers, trees, colors, textures, and all the other individualistic characteristics each flower, tree, rock, etc. had made me really truly appreciate nature.

I adore nature; I think when appreciated, it brings peace to the mind.  Personally, I spend a lot of time throughout the heights of the different seasons just admiring the beauty of the world we live in.  I definitely see myself coming back here in the future, either to take more pictures or maybe draw something or even to show it to my friends.

            There was a multitude of flowers at the Arboretum, all of which were breathtaking.  One of the most interesting things I saw was pepper!  They reminded me of the type my friend at home used to grow.  I loved how vibrant all the colors were.  There were shades of blue, purple, pink, orange, red, and every other color you could imagine.  They all complimented each other beautifully and their placement made their colors pop even more.

            One of my favorite spots at the Arboretum was the sunflower garden.  They are one of my favorite flowers and viewing a vast space of them instantly put a smile on my face.  They towered over all the other flowers, instantly standing out, and made me feel like I was no longer in University Park, but rather somewhere were all my stress and worries were nonexistent.  Honestly the Arboretum as a whole made me feel that way; there’s something about being surrounded by nature to me that puts things in perspective.  Maybe it’s because in a way I am no longer in the place where all my stress is coming from.  Mother Nature encompassed me; I no longer had to think about all the problems coming from the urban environment. 

            Another of my favorites was this kelp, seaweed looking bush.  These bushes reminded me of these beautiful coral-looking plants I saw while snorkeling in the Bahamas.  They danced gracefully underwater and were the most striking purples and greens.  Just like Monet’s gardens, the Bahamas as a whole was another natural beauty.  The Arboretum brought me back to some of the most beautifully natural places I have ever been to.

            While wandering around I stumbled onto a fountain that I have seen spouting water before walking to and from football games.  I had always wondered why that fountain was there and I finally knew what it was a part of.  Unfortunately, the fountain was not turned on but that led to a new discovery: there were footprints on the bottom!  I thought this was priceless and wondered who had gone into the fountain before. 

            One of my favorite pictures I took that day was of a bee pollinating a splendid yellow flower that was growing away from the rest of the bunch.  This flower instantly caught my eye since it was leaning in the walking area.  There was something about everything going on, the beautiful fall day, being surrounded by spectacular flowers, and seeing a bee perform its job in nature that just made my day.  I will definitely be visiting the Arboretum again with friends who have not had the pleasure to experience it.

            

The Palmer Museum of Art

The piece that drew my attention was Working Horse, Hauling, 1994 by Kate Javens.  It is an oil painting on canvas and was created in 1994.

I believe this piece relates to the working class of every generation.  It is not specific to a certain time or place because its message is about work and struggle.  There have been specific moments throughout history where work has been especially tough, such as during the 1800s, the time of slavery, or during the Great Depression.  Slaves were treated like animals and were worked to death whereas those who had a job during the Great Depression did everything they could to keep it.  Those who weren’t so fortunate to have one struggled to find work.  Javens’ piece relates to the inner “workhorse” of all of us.  It relates to our moment in time right now.  People are still competing to find and keep jobs.  People like single parents work especially hard to provide for their families and will take certain jobs that they may not like to do so.  I believe the social comment this piece is making is that there are many people out there unhappily working for something or someone that means more to them than their own happiness.

This piece had a very strong effect on my emotions, which is why I chose it.  Once I walked up the stairs and was greeted by this immense creation, I immediately took a picture of it.  I call my ex-boyfriend pony and once I saw the piece “pony!!!” came right to my mind.  I instantly took a picture of it and sent it to him but as I continued to look at the piece it reminded me more and more of him.  He is the definition of a “workhorse.”  He works for his dad’s lumber company all the time and only takes off when he really has to.  The horse in the piece looks sad which brought to my mind how he doesn’t really want to inherit the lumberyard; he’s forced to.

After a while the piece started to make me think of my dad.  He is another “workhorse.”  My dad doesn’t necessarily like what he does but he does it to support our family.  He works hard all day for six days a week.  This piece connected to the feelings I have for two very important men in my life.  It made me realize how much I value and appreciate the hard work these people do to support not only themselves but others. 

Kate Javens is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  She has had solo exhibitions in cities such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, and New York City.  Kate has won many different awards for her art, which is displayed in many different museums and showcases throughout the country.  She is known for being able to connect her piece to a person through empathy, which is exactly what this piece did to me.  I felt sad for the horse and I related it to people I knew who reminded me of what I believed this horse was going through. (http://www.marciawoodgallery.com/artist/javens/intro.html)

I think this piece is making several claims.  One of them is the reality that many people do not enjoy what they do for a living but they must do so in order to maintain their living status.  It also makes the claim that we are all dealing with struggle, whether it is because of work or something else.  We have all felt like we were being held back or too exhausted to move on but we have to.  To me, this piece can make many claims depending on how someone is interpreting it.  For the claims I have seen through this piece, I believe they are very persuasive.

I am a big museum-goer.  Being from a town in New York extremely close to the city I have visited museums such as The Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I love going to museums and I really enjoyed the Palmer Museum of Art.  It was my first time going there and I would definitely go back a second time to reevaluate and absorb the art again.  The art there was powerful and there were different genres, which I loved.

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