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In Case You Missed It Museum Events

In Case You Missed It: Spring 2022 Lunar New Year Celebration

Photographs and captions prepared by Sunny Lee, class of ’22

On Saturday, February 5th, 2022, the McMullen hosted a Lunar New Year event with Boston College’s Asian student organizations. This event was open to the public, and it was fabulous to see many students and members of the local community enjoying their time in the festive halls of the Museum. The Asian Caucus, Chinese Students Association, Korean Students Association, Taiwanese Cultural Organization, and the Vietnamese Student Association presented New Year’s food from various countries, games, and opportunities to make New Year’s decorations to celebrate Lunar New Year. The games played were Go, Mahjong, and Feilong. Additionally, attendees tried their hands at decorating red envelopes, fortune-telling, origami, and making Chinese lanterns and New Year’s knots. 

Board members of the Vietnamese Students Association (VSA) Gina Yoo and Vivienne Le smile for the camera while preparing to serve Vietnamese cuisine.

Left: The mouthwatering dumplings the Chinese Student Association (CSA) brought were a popular hit among the attendees. Right: The Taiwanese Culture Organization (TCO) brought delicious egg tarts and crackers that are popular staples at Asian supermarkets.

The button-making machines worked by McMullen Student Ambassadors allowed participants to create their own button pins.

Right: participants in the game room busied themselves with the various traditional Asian games provided, such as Mahjong and Go. Left: attendees used their artistry and dexterity in creating paper crafts such as a Chinese lantern ornament.

If you did not have the chance to catch our TikTok video on social media, you can watch it here!

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Harvard Art Exchange

By Kate Oksen

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On Friday, November 9, student guides and staff members from the Harvard Art Museums came to the McMullen Museum to complete the second component of our exchange program. Harvard students were greeted in the atrium by Professor Nancy Netzer before heading to our first floor conference room.

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Sophia Cocozza, co-chair of the Education Committee, had the opportunity to delve a little deeper into the specific roles and responsibilities of a McMullen student ambassador. The co-chairs of each of our six committees presented an overview of their main projects and goals for the semester while using visual aids to showcase components of our website, 3D-Vista tours of past exhibitions, an inside look at our database, and more.

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The Harvard students were split into two groups and brought on tours of the second and third floor galleries of the museum. The tours were facilitated by members of our Education Committee, who each conducted extra research on components of Strategies of Engagement to inform Harvard’s student guides about Carrie Mae Weems herself and pieces from her vast array of work. Interacting with other student workers, conversing about the exhibition and discussing the differences and similarities of our experiences working in art museums coupled with the actual trips to these unique spaces has been such a positive endeavor for all involved. We are so happy to have had this exchange and so grateful to have had the Harvard student guides participate!

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Museum Events

Harvard Art Museum Exchange

By Michael Kratochvil

On Friday October 19, a number of McMullen Museum Student Ambassadors made their way over to the Harvard Art Museum for a collaborative meeting with some of their student tour leaders.

Nestled in the middle of the hip and bustling city of Cambridge, the museum’s ambiguous exterior gave way to a breathtaking interior, with countless pieces of art and various artifacts from a plethora of eras.

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To kick off the day, we met with some of the Harvard Art Museum’s best staff and students in a quaint and beautiful conference room, which had been brought over from New York City in thousands of pieces. After introducing ourselves, we broke off into groups, embarking on various specialized tours of some of the finest and most intriguing art in the museum.

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Each group’s tour focused on a specific topic, chosen by the Harvard tour guide, and provoked extensive thought and reflection when looking at a piece from the lens of the tour’s subject. One of the tours featured Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Raphael and the Fornarina (1827), sparking conversation on such themes as love, the model’s perspective, and Raphael’s artistic commitment.

After about an hour of engaging discussion and analysis of highlighted works on tour, we were free to roam around the museum and get lost in the countless pieces of priceless artistry. The four extensive floors of art opened up the opportunity for exploration amidst galleries dedicated to Greek, Roman, Medieval, and Modern Art.

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Unquestionably a student ambassador favorite, one of the galleries houses a special exhibition entitled, Animal Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World: Feasting with Gods, Heroes and Kings. The exhibit displays nearly 60 vessels—most made of silver, bronze, and gold—taking the form of different animals and shapes. From horns with majestical griffins to donkey head mugs, these “party animals” were the life of the museum!

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The end of our exchange came around rather quickly, leaving us with an appetite for more and an incentive to return.

We look forward to hosting Harvard’s tour guides and museum staff at the McMullen on Friday, November 9.