Museum Fridays: A summer in review

Like most people, I started my summer with a plan. You see, I live in one of the most interesting places in the world, and yet because of my awesome job (which I love), I don't often have the time to take advantage of all that NYC has to offer. So this summer, when my office closed for several Fridays in a row, I decided to use that time away from my desk to enjoy a little more of the city... and I decided to have Museum Fridays. The goal was this: I would take the Fridays when I would normally be at work and visit a museum in NYC that I hadn't seen before. It was a really simple idea, and yet it was SO much fun! Not only was I learning all sorts of new information, but I was able to enjoy my local museums without the normal weekend rush that I would encounter while visiting on my 'normal' days away from work (Saturday and Sunday). Now that my summer has drawn to a close, I'll admit that Museum Fridays didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked, but it was a great excuse to get out and explore my town! So today, I thought I'd share a quick overview of my photos from Museum Fridays: Summer 2011, and encourage you to check out any of these awesome museums next time you're in NYC!

I started my Museum Fridays with a visit to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. I had a blast wandering around the deck of the humongous ship checking out all the different aircraft on display. (In case you missed it earlier this summer, you can read more about my visit to the Intrepid here, here, here and here.)

Next on my calendar was my visit to the New York City Tenement Museum. This museum couldn't have been more different from the Intrepid, but it was still a lot of fun. Plus, I learned so much history about immigrant life in NYC! (While I couldn't take pictures inside the museum, you can read about my visit on this post.)

After a couple of vacation weeks, I returned to NYC and made my first trek to the NYC Transit Museum. Even though I had to schlep all the way to Brooklyn to tour an un-air-conditioned museum, this was still one of my favorite stops of the summer. From the amazing variety of subway train cars to the history of this fair city's transit, this hands-on museum is a treat! (If you'd like to check it out again, you can visit this, this and this post.)

Later on in the summer, I visited the Cloisters. I cheated a little bit on this visit as I had travelled up to the Cloisters several years back... however, since my brother was in town I made an exception and took him (on the hottest day of the summer, no less) to visit this beautiful museum of Medieval art. I think the Cloisters are a real 'gem' here in NYC, and I was happy to have the opportunity to share them with my bro! (Feel free to check out my posts on our visit to the Cloisters here and here.)

With only a couple of Fridays left in my summer, I stopped by the American Folk Art Museum for their exhibit on quilts. It was a stunning example of handmade, practical 'art', and I took a ton of pictures. However, I must say that this museum is likely to close soon (due to financial difficulties), so if you're hoping to visit it you should go sooner rather than later!

(I blogged about these beautiful quilts here.)

And in my last Museum Friday, I visited the Museum of the Moving Image. I had an absolute blast wandering around this interesting (and interactive) museum, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes movies or television. (You can read more about this super fun museum- and even see the fastest stop motion video ever- here and here.)

Thanks for joining me in my review of Museum Fridays. I had so much fun this summer- and I'm already making a list of the museums I want to visit next year!

Oh, and many thanks to everyone for their kinds notes yesterday- we consider ourselves so lucky here in NYC to have gotten through the hurricane without any damage! So thanks to everyone who was thinking and praying for us out here on the east coast... we appreciate it a great deal!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

More movie magic!

I still have a few more pictures to share from my recent trip to the Museum of the Moving Image- I hope you don't mind!

To me, one of the coolest parts of the museum was the area devoted to the history/science of movies.

The exhibit started with examples of the beginning of movie history.

And the displays were all tactile, so you could play with them and really appreciate how far movies have come.

For example, these Charlie Chaplain "films" were operated with a hand crank.

As you cranked the handle, lots of little pictures flipped by and Charlie got into a barroom fight... the technology was so simple, yet I can imagine it was pretty revolutionary when it was first developed.

Another cool area of the exhibit was the stop motion station. Housed around a large table, there were 8 interactive computers that allowed you to record stop-motion videos...

Using paper shapes in various colors and sizes.

As if that wasn't cool enough, when you were done playing you could even email your video to yourself! Of course, I had to try the technology, so here's my 13 second video in case you want to check out my handy work. (Don't worry, I won't quit my day job!)

Fun, right? Further into the exhibit there were all sorts of other items and artifacts used to create movies. For example, there was an entire room of movie and television cameras...

And each one was developed or used for a special purpose. This particular camera was created in order video motion, like this scene from Judy Garland's Meet Me in St. Louis.

There was also a display of audio recorders, which was pretty interesting!

Another cool (and interactive) part of the museum was the sound effect display. It included an area where you could select a movie from a list, and insert different sound effects.

I chose to play around with Home Alone II, and had all sorts of fun replacing the movie's actual sound effects with crazy alternatives.

I had similar fun in the soundtrack area. There I decided to take a scene from Independence Day...

And played the scene with a different score. (In my opinion, nothing beats Holst's Mars, although the original soundtrack is still pretty good!)

As you can tell, I had a great time at the Museum of the Moving Image, and I highly recommend it if you're ever in Astoria.

Oh, and if you're in town, there's a Jim Henson exhibit showing until next month. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but it was amazing- I actually teared up when I saw the Bert and Ernie puppets that were used on Sesame Street when I was a kid. The exhibit had so much to see: in addition to an incredibly interesting display of Jim's art work and puppets, there was Ms. Piggy from Muppets Take Manhattan and items from the Dark Crystal, which I loved to watch when I was a kid (event though I was slightly terrified the whole time).

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you had a great weekend!

How moving!

As I alluded to yesterday, I visited another amazing museum recently: the Museum of the Moving Image!

This cool place is located in Astoria (just about 20 minutes from my apartment), so I couldn't wait to check it out! As their mission states: 

Museum of the Moving Image advances the public understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving, and providing access to moving-image related artifacts, screening significant films and other moving-image works, presenting exhibitions of artifacts, artworks, and interactive experiences, and offering educational and interpretive programs to students, teachers, and the general public.

Now, I am nowhere near what most folks would call a "film buff," but I love watching movies! So I was pretty excited to see what this museum had to offer. Upon entering the first exhibit, I wasn't disappointed. Spanning an entire wall were photos of the greatest film actors/actresses of all time.

And it didn't take me long to spot my boyfriend, Bing Crosby! (For those of you who have never met me, I have loved Bing for as long as I can remember... he's the best!)

Of course, there were all sorts of other things to see at the museum as well. From prop busts...

To mechanical "heads" (the plaque said that this one was used in Black Swan, though I don't know for sure since I'm too scared to see the movie)...

And terrifying puppets. (Do you recognize her from The Exorcist?)

In addition to the creepy items, there were also cases of interesting cinematic artifacts.

For example, this was Marlon Brando's dental insert for his role in The Godfather.

And like I shared yesterday, these were the prosthetic faces for Mrs. Doubtfire.

The museum collection also included a few interesting costumes...

Where Mrs. Doubtfire's dress and padded "lady suit" were prominently displayed (you can even see Cliff Huxtable's sweater and slacks on the right).

Another fun part of the museum was the area devoted to movie memorabilia. There was a wall of movie magazines...

Toys based on movies and television shows...

(Including these awesome coloring books that I would LOVE to have owned...)

And a whole alcove of video games. I was surprised to see these at first, but then I realized they're also great examples of "moving images." Oh- and the best part? YOU CAN PLAY THESE!! There are a couple that are free (the older games), while the newer games like Ms. Pacman are 25 cents a game. Isn't that fun?

One of my favorite little displays on this floor was this area devoted to movie scores. I was proud to realize that I already owned quite a few of these (including one my of personal favorites Fame in the upper-left-hand corner).

And as if that whole floor wasn't cool enough, there was a movie theater IN THE MUSEUM! Even better, the theater is home to screenings each week, so people can come to the museum and see a movie... how fun is that?

As you can tell, this museum is great! I have a few more pictures to share, so make sure to stop by on Monday to see the rest of the photos!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Time for a tease...

I went someplace pretty cool recently and I have quite a few photos to share from my visit. Unfortunately I don't have them uploaded quite yet (sorry!), but I did get my act together enough to share a single teaser-picture...

Do you recognize her? Make sure to visit tomorrow to learn where you, too, can meet this famous 'lady'!

Coveting these coverlets

The other day I stopped by the Folk Art Museum here in NYC.

There was an exhibit of American-made quilts, and I wanted to check it out!

And while the exhibit was small...

The quilts did not disappoint! 

I couldn't believe how beautiful they all were...

And all the details were incredible- especially considering that they were all sewn by hand!

The museum had collected quite a variety of quilts for the exhibit.

There were all sorts of patterns...

The quilts dated from 10-150 years old...

And incorporated all sorts of material!

But enough out of me... check out these quilts!

I love this patriotic number...

Don't you?

I loved the fabric in this one... all different blue and white patterns!

This crazy quilt was also pretty cool...

Especially with the metallic gold thread!

This geometric pattern was very stunning...

And this tribute to Hawai'i was also very cool...

Especially the embroidered islands hidden on the bottom of the quilt!

As you can see, there were lots of beautiful quilts to enjoy!

Thanks for visiting- I hope you had a great weekend!