As the end of the school year draws near, the students of Boston College have all started hitting the books and camping out in the libraries, cramming for those final exams. While certainly an important time to be working hard, the end of spring semester is also a great (if not slightly bittersweet) time to take a step back and reflect on the year that just flew by: the victories won, the lessons learned, and all the highs and lows experienced throughout.
Speaking on behalf of the rest of The Terrace staff, I believe that this end-of-year reflection is a meaningful and worthwhile exercise, from both an individual and organizational viewpoint. This was a year of many firsts for the McMullen: the first year of the Museum’s new home on Brighton campus, the first year of the Student Ambassador Program, and yes, the first year of The Terrace. In all honesty, things didn’t always run smoothly or as expected—personally, I started the year off on the wrong foot by botching my role at the Museum’s Grand Opening ribbon cutting ceremony, nervously handing over the scissors blade-side first. But nonetheless the ribbon was cut, the Museum opened to great applause, and here we are today.
The same can be said for the development of The Terrace. Things were slow and a little shaky at first, as our shoestring editorial staff adjusted to the responsibilities and demands of running an online student publication. But things steadily improved! We hit our soft-launch in December, rested and recharged over the winter break, and came back with a vengeance in January. New articles and photo galleries were soon being uploaded every few days, highlighting McMullen events and the artistic and cultural ongoings of the greater Boston community. My favorite project of the year was the Exiled From… digital gallery that we curated and hosted on the site, accepting submissions from the entire Boston College student community.
Naturally, as the Publication Committee figured out how best to run The Terrace, the other student committees began hitting their respective strides as well, which in turn meant more content for us to publish. The Digital Humanities Committee produced three podcasts this semester, which now live in our Podcast Archive. The Social Media team worked hard on a number of different campaigns, and all of their work can now be seen on the website’s sidebar—an addition which makes The Terrace much more lively and visually pleasing. Additionally, a number of Student Ambassadors launched their own independent projects this semester, writing excellent essays and conducting interviews that we have been thrilled to host on the site. The Terrace has truly evolved into a hub for all Student Ambassador projects and events, a development I cannot be more pleased with.
But alas, all good college things must come to a summer hiatus. There will be plenty of behind-the-scenes work being done in these next few months (we’ll be upgrading our website yet again), but new articles and write-ups won’t be back until the fall semester. And when we do come back, expect for things to be a little different: from our five-person editorial staff, three will be donning the cap and gown in just a few weeks. A huge thanks to Alyssa Vaughn, Anna Olcott, and Dante Keeler for all of their hard work in creating The Terrace from the ground up this year. None of this could have been possible without them, and Grace and I are ready to continue their efforts and carry the torch into next year.
With the help of a new team of incoming editors (and the continued support of our eternal champion and adviser Rachel Chamberlain), The Terrace will hit the ground running come September, and we won’t stop until the next farewell post in May 2018. Thanks to everyone who has read, contributed to, or even simply clicked on The Terrace. We sincerely appreciate your interest and support, and we can’t wait to show you what we have planned for next year. Until then, our best advice is to make the most of our namesake: the third-floor museum terrace has recently reopened with the return of warm weather, and it will stay open until the McMullen closes for the summer on June 4. Without a doubt, it is one of my favorite places at Boston College, and that’s saying something.
Enjoy the View,
Josh Artman
Section Editor, The Terrace
The trivia winners received their choice of a free catalogue of Nature’s Mirror and a McMullen tote bag or umbrella.
In our main gallery, we’re starting off the year with Nature’s Mirror: Reality and Symbol in Belgian Landscape curated by Boston College’s very own Jeffery Howe. Continuing the home-grown tradition, our third floor corridor is again adorned with the paintings of a BC professor. Alston Conley’s luminous skylines bring Belgian and Netherlandish landscape traditions across time and sea to contemporary New England. Both will be on view starting September 10th. And finally, the colorful abstractions of Esteban Lisa complete our third-floor space, which opens the 16th.
As always, the McMullen is holding an exclusive Student Opening—complete with games, refreshments, and live performances—on September 22nd. But before that, we’re taking advantage of Boston’s last few weeks of summer for a night of visual culture trivia out on our namesake Terrace. Trivia Night marks just the beginning. We hope you’ll join us here throughout the semester, whether it be our student exclusives, our normal hours, or late on Thursday nights. Here’s to a brand-new year, to new adventures we’re thrilled to be sharing with you, at your museum.