Page 16 - AAA Akron Auto Club – AAA Now! – March/April 2019

TRAVEL MATTERS
TRAVEL
Discovering the museums of New York’s Central Park By John T. Garcia
TM
Just A Walk in The Park
Ah, New York City’s Central Park in the spring. The grass is starting to peek through the snow if it’s not completely melted yet. But the air might still be a little too crisp to remain outside for long.
Thankfully the park is home to a wealth of museums where you can escape the cold and see some fantastic exhibits, stunning works of art and even learn about the city that you are visiting.
The jewel of Central Park is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is the only museum within the park boundaries. It is the largest art museum in the United States (it ranks fourth in the world) and is the third-most popular in terms of visitors annually, with 7.35 million visitors in 2017. The main building of the museum is on Museum Mile, a stretch of Fifth Avenue on the eastern edge of Central Park where you can find eight, soon to be nine, museums. The Met (not to be confused with The Metropolitan Opera) also operates the nearby Met Breuer museum, about eight blocks away
on Madison Avenue, and The Cloisters in Upper Manhattan. Admission tickets are valid for three consecutive days at all three museums.
‘ART FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD’
The main museum, known as The Met Fifth Avenue, advertises that it has “5,000 years of art from every corner of the world” and within its more than 630,000 square feet, who’s going to argue. Here you can see a decorated military helmet from around 1500 to 1100 B.C.; a mid-10th century, ivory carving depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; and a 1966 painting by American artist Andrew Wyeth, “Grape Wine.”
The Met Fifth Avenue has 17 different collections, with a staff that curates each one as well as
researches, helps with exhibits and maintenance. One of the more exciting collections is The Costume Institute, an assemblage of more than 33,000 costumes and accessories. The display presents clothing of men, women and children from five continents since the 15th century. In 2014, the
wing of the museum that houses the collection was named the Anna Wintour Costume Center after
the editor-in-chief of Vogue and chair since 1995 of the museum’s annual Met Gala, a fundraiser for the museum that also doubles as the opening of the Institute’s annual exhibit.
Across Central Park’s Great Lawn (and Central Park West if you are walking) is the American Museum of Natural History, the second most visited museum in New York City at 5 million guests per year. Founded in 1869, it contains 45 exhibit halls and is home to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, the nation’s 26th president, and a tribute to his legacy of conservation. It is the only museum in the U.S. authorized to grant a doctorate and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree.
The museum also is home to the Rose Center
for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium. Besides guests to its New York location, the museum estimates millions more, on six continents, have seen its Space Shows.
PICASSO, VAN GOGH AND DALI; OH MY!
One of the most recognized buildings in New York City is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, on the Museum Mile at 88th Street. The building was designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959 but opened six months after
his death. The Guggenheim contains works of sculpture, photography and video by artists such as
Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. As part of the Guggenheim’s mission to “collect,
conserve, and promote understanding of the art of our time,” the museum has a long history with performance art, whether it be theater, dance, music or other mediums.
For most travelers, you don’t learn much about the place you are visiting except for what is happening while you are there. But at the Museum of the City of New York, you can learn more than you ever want to know about the history of the
city that never sleeps. The museum has more than 750,000 objects in its collection, from photographs and old maps of the city, to costumes and furniture, including a large selection of artifacts related to the city’s rich history of theater.
For travel planning assistance, visit your AAA Akron office to speak to a travel agent or call 330-762-0631.
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