It is the week of Halloween in New York City and the Museum of Modern Art opened its door for a Members get together.
The MoMA was haunted on a pre-Halloween Night and members of the museum were looking for a fright!
On October 28th, the Museum of Modern Art held their annual Members Night with a Halloween theme “It’s Alive”. They asked members to dress up and carried the Halloween theme throughout the museum with entertainment, refreshments and art lectures on spooky looking art. It was a fun evening out on a warm October night.
The Costumed guests at the Museum of Modern Art
The guests were greeted at the museum with a DJ playing and a pumpkin carving display being created. On the second floor, there were arts and crafts for adults and children, while a spooky silent film played in a darkened hall. The theme of the evening was “It’s Alive” and the museum came to life with each member arriving.
Members mingling among the ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night
The sign welcoming us for the Members Evening “It’s Alive”
Many of the museums were having their Members Nights before the start of the holidays but nothing beats a night at the MoMA before Halloween night. This was no ordinary night of Trick role Treating at the museum. There was a costumed DJ spinning tunes as we entered and the whole lobby was filled with people in costume.
The lobby was the heart of the party
I love the art in the lobby
There was a pumpkin carving demonstration on the first floor when we walked in
The museum planned an array of activities to enjoy from the DJ spinning to the to the dancing and music on the first floor. Pumpkin carving and artwork to enjoy with our creative side to a spooky silent film to watch and then tour the haunted halls of the museum looking for sinister art. Movies and music on the patio as the sun set and the moon rose in the night sky.
Our directory of the evening
My first stop was the outside patio and it was just beautiful this evening with the weather warm at 65 degrees and such a pleasant night to be outside. The cool weather finally gave way to a warm week leading into Halloween. Surrealist movies were playing on the screen while the Beauty of Midtown lights gleaned in the background.
The patio was busy with people chatting and enjoying the nice weather
My video on the patio
The patio fountains were lit for the evening
I then made my way to the second floor to watch a silent horror film, ‘The Cat and the Canary’
The beginning of the film
The movie in full
The silent film “The Cat and the Canary”
Watching the silent film
The silent film “The Cat and the Canary”
While we were watching the film, the tables were set with play dough and paper to create what inspired us. I created my version of Mr. Bill. It was fun being a kid again!
The table setting our spooky instructions
The spooky instructions
My version of Mr. Bill doing the scream
My creative artwork
After my time with the arts and crafts , I sat down to watch the full film which had lots of twists and turns on it.
I needed a drink after the film was over and with it being Midterms week at work, I really needed one to relax me. I eyed the Blood Orange Margarita and watch it get mixed. They even put a small gummy eye at the bottom of the drink.
The Blood Orange Margarita sounded good after a long week of running around
The margarita looked cute but not for $17.00. I thought it was a bit small with too much ice. The candy eyeball was cute though.
As I was enjoying my drink and listening to the music, the museum laid out trays of Halloween candy like M & M’s and Tootsie rolls, which got devoured quickly. As I walked around the lobby, the main floor turning into a dance floor of witches and ghosts and many costumed characters.
The make shift dance floor on the first floor
The party continued on the first floor
I continued the evening walking the galleries of the Fifth Floor looking for Halloween art. There were talks and tours all night and I joined other members on the Fifth Floor and I found many ‘haunting’ objects in the halls of the MoMA.
Artwork on the Fifth Floor
The spider like Alexander Calder piece
The colorful surreal pieces of the Fifth Floor
A missing mysterious magician
A headless Spector rooming the halls
Colorful art dominating the Fifth floor
The party continued into the later evening with the dance floor going strong.
The costumed characters on the dance floor on the first floor
I took a break from the festivities and relaxed on the patio enjoying the warm night and admiring the lights of Midtown. With everything going on in the world today, the MoMA tricked us in for a real treat at the museum that night.
Relaxing in the patio at the end of the evening
The haunted pools of the patio relaxed me that evening.
All good things come to an end and the museum started to close down by 9:00pm. I could tell many of the party goers did not want to leave but out into the darkness we went only to be treated by the array of lights to Midtown Manhattan.
Looking at the MoMA from a distance down Seventh Avenue
Decorating for Halloween has become a big business and all signs of the Fall were around us. Unfortunately with Halloween on Saturday I was already seeing the signs of Christmas lurking in the background. Designers were putting up pine displays and decorations you could see just waiting for Halloween night to end. Still for tonight, Midtown was a haunting display.
Pumpkins lining an office building on Sixth Avenue
The Fall leaves are falling along the sides of West 55th Street
Looking down 8th Avenue at night
It was fun to walk around the City on this warm October night and enjoy the pre-Halloween festivities. Trick or Treat everyone!
I had a five week break from the college when my first Summer class was cancelled. So I concentrated on traveling through New Jersey and New York, both the City and Upstate for my blog. I wanted to revisit many historical sites that I had seen during the holiday season (was Christmas six months ago?) or in the past. There were places like Central Park, where I had not seen certain sections in the Spring. This lead to me being part of many walking tours of gardens during the month of June.
With all the wet weather we had in the Spring, the gardens in June were lush with flowers and flowering trees and plants. Pathways lined with color and walled gardens beautifully laid out. It was interesting to see how these were planted, designed and maintained.
The entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in June 2026
All the rain we had in April and May and the warm days of early June had awakened the Cherry Blossoms and I visited as many locations to see them in full bloom.
Please read my blog on visiting the Cherry Blossoms:
Once they were finished, gardens came to life all over the tri-state area and many historical homes and parks came to life in a sea of color and smells that showed the power of Mother Nature to make things beautiful. I was impressed with the work of many volunteer staffs and their dedication in taking care of these sites for all of us to enjoy.
Visiting to Amour-Steiner House for the Spring Garden Tour:
The Amour-Steiner House the day of the Garden Tour
The beds were in full bloom when we toured the gardens
The colors of the flowers were patriotic red, white and blue
In between the hedges, there was elegant statuary and potted urns with colorful flowers blooming with bright hues.
The urns were filled with bright colors of the season
Statuary representing the arts and music lined the hedges
The flowers were so brilliant that afternoon
I enjoyed looking at the statuary
The gardens were so beautiful with the house in the background
As we left the gardens, I admired the ornate Fox and the Glove gate on the way out
We then crossed the lawn to tour the greenhouse, where many of the flowers were and still are grown for decorating the house both inside and out.
The landscaping has a romantic spin on it as the property was planted to accent not just the property but the house as well giving it a natural but balanced look to it.
Touring the formal greenhouse
Even the working greenhouse had a romanticized look about it that reflected the house
The inside of the greenhouse. Each side of the counters seasonal flowers are grown for the property. This greenhouse is used all year long supplying the house with a steady stream of flowers.
In the middle of the greenhouse was a beautiful Victorian aquarium that was lined with more flowers. There were no fish at this time.
I loved the beautiful flowers that lined the counters
The Spring colors were breathtaking
We then started the tour of the house starting with the outside veranda that held more urns and planters of fresh flowers
The beautiful veranda lines the entire house
The beautiful colors from the potted and hanging plants
The veranda decorated for the upcoming ‘250th Anniversary of the United States
I walked the veranda before the tour to show the view of the property.
My tour of the patio
The hanging plants
The potted plants
We even admired the birdhouse that matched the house
We then went inside to tour the house. It would be interesting to see the house without all the Christmas decorations that I saw the last time I toured the house.
The triangle room off the foyer once used as the Receiving Room
The beautiful foyer to the second floor
The main Parlor/Living Room used for entertaining
The formal Dining Room
The decorative sideboard
The other decorative sideboard
The Dining Room table set for a Spring dinner
We then started the tour of the second floor which started in the game room at the top of there landing. I remember the big Christmas tree being here when the house was decorated for the holidays.
I liked the room was the way it is here
Then we toured the bedrooms which were not that elaborate but functional and comfortable as they are today.
One of several bedrooms on the second floor
The bathroom which is considered normal today was ahead of its time with flushing toilets and hot and cold running water
The office off the side in one of the Octagon corners
The Egyptian Room was the height of fashion with travel and new discovers in Egypt at the time.
The ceiling and decorations of Egyptian Room
The decor of the Egypt
The beautiful porcelain in the room
Then we toured the Curio Room. I thought the room was a lot of fun with small objects that people would have collected from their journeys at that time.
The shelves, counters and walls were filled with all sorts of interesting objects
Many types of object’s
The Victorian Terrarium that was becoming fashionable at the time
The fold out desk with small objects in each slot
A Victrola and Terrarium
The last part of the tour was of the newly renovated kitchen. The shelves were lined with a collection of shiny pots and pans.
The ‘modern’ Victorian kitchen
When the tour was over, I visited the gift shop and looked over the kitchen once more. It is interesting to see how ‘modern’ back then is ‘contemporary’ today. Victorians set the tone for the modern American home of today and the expectations of the American dream.
Before I left the grounds, I visited the gardens once more. It was such perfect weather to walk around and I enjoyed the beauty of these gardens. Mother Nature creates this all this.
Walking around the grounds of the home
I enjoyed walking around the gardens that day
I found this tour one of the most relaxing I have taken in a long time. The beauty of both the house and the gardens was wonderful. Just sitting on the veranda and looking over the grounds was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.
Taking the Clermont Garden Walking Tour 2026:
I returned in the Spring of 2026 for the an updated walking tour of the gardens “Gardens and Grounds: Evolving Landscaping of Clermont”, where the State of New York horticulturalist who had just been hired to maintain the gardens, explained to us the developments and goals that the State wanted for the direction of the landscaping on the property. They wanted it brought back to the 1930’s blueprint of what Alice Livingston had originally envisioned for the estate when she returned from Europe.
Arriving to the Clermont estate at 1 Clermont Avenue in Germantown, NY
We started the tour with a history of the house and Alice Livingston’s return from Europe to create her famous gardens
The front of the mansion in the Spring of 2026
We started the tour at the Walled Garden which was just finished being restored. The back wall had just been finished and the site’s main horticulturalist explained that she was working with a group of volunteers to maintain the gardens.
The Walled Garden designed by Alice Livingston
The Walled Garden in the Spring of 2026
The inside to the entrance of the Walled Garden
The back part of the Walled Garden
The next garden we toured was the Wilderness Garden which included wildflowers and a fish pond
The Wilderness Garden sign
The back part of the Walled Garden leads to the Wilderness Garden
The entrance to the Wilderness Gardens
The lecture on the design and plantings of the Wilderness Garden
The colorful wildflowers that line the grass paths
The fish pond in the Wilderness Garden
We then followed the path and walked up and toured the Cutting and Children’s Garden. These colorful gardens once supplied the house with an assortment of fresh flowers. It also taught the Livingston girls the attributes of gardening.
The Cutting Garden and Greenhouse sign
The main Cutting Garden
The Cutting garden
The Cutting Garden in the late Spring
The in season flowers in the Cutting Garden
The Children’s Playhouse and Garden is next to the Cutting Garden
The Children’s Garden in the Spring
Touring past the old Greenhouses
Part of the former greenhouse
The tour through the grounds with my group
The pathway back to Clermont
Touring along the river
The former roadway between the house and the river
The South Spring Garden
Our last garden toured was the one closest to the house and that was the South Spring Garden of which Alice could see from her window. When the porch was removed from the home and Alice developed plans for other gardens, this garden went ‘native’.
The South Garden
The South Garden in bloom
The views from the South Garden
The flower planters near the South Garden
The planters filled with Spring geraniums
Walking back after the tour was over and looking at the beautiful grounds
Ending the tour that day with a walk along the river
It was a beautiful day to walk the gardens and the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Each time I take a tour of the gardens, I am amazed how different they seem. I love the different times of the year and how it changes these gardens.
I returned to Manhattan the next week and as I was working in Inwood and Washington Heights neighborhoods, I took a tour of Isham Park with the Bruce Reynolds Gardens and Fort Tyron Park with the Heather Gardens, when they were in full bloom. It was breathtaking with the back drop of the Hudson River on a sunny afternoon.
In Isham Park, I toured the Bruce Reynolds Gardens, which is in the center of the park. They were in full bloom when I walked around the gardens and relaxed under the shade trees.
The new Bonnefont Restaurant is open for lunch and brunch
The restaurant was closed that afternoon but I was able to look at the menu online and it is an interesting menu. The cuisine is a mixture of French and Contemporary cooking.
Walking back through the gardens to the Fort Tryon location
Walking to the Fort Tryon site
The Fort Tryon site
Visiting the Brooklyn Botanic Garden before Rose Night in 2026:
I got an email from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden saying that the Cranford Rose Garden was at its peak of blooming and that I should see it while it was at its prime. I was busy at work and was able to travel down to down to the gardens a few days later. Talk about perfect timing as the petals just started to fall.
The Cranford Rose Garden at peak is one of the most beautiful sites. The colors and the fragrances are just amazing. I could not attend “Rose Night” in 2026 because of a prior commitment plus it would be a gloomy night with the threat of rain. So I went the Friday afternoon before the event, which would be held the next Wednesday. By that point, the flowers would be out of peak.
The Cranford Rose Garden in bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Cranford Rose Garden is amazing from every angle and the views from the top of the hill overlooking the garden shows the extensive amounts of roses planted and the array of colors.
The beds of roses of all colors and species
The entrance to the Cranford Rose Garden is full of an array of different types of colorful flowers
Touring the Rose Gardens in June 2026:
The tour
The beautiful and diverse flowers in the Cranford Rose Garden
The beauty of flowers up close
All sorts of roses line the trellis borders of the Rose Garden
What I love about walking around is that you can see the diversity of the roses. The garden is planted with different species so they bloom at different times giving the beds an array of colors at different times. Along the beds and trellis everything bloomed so vibrantly.
The beautiful orange roses that lined the trellis
The colorful trellis pathways
The reds and pinks in full bloom
Roses lining the lamppost
Admiring the beds of roses at the Cranford Rose Garden
Purple reins supreme
Walking through the trellis pathways of red
The beauty of the trellis
The back part of the garden
The back terrace of the Cranford Rose Garden
The elegant statuary of the rose garden and the sun dial
The back Terrace area
The back of the Cranford Rose Garden is lined with all sorts of flowering plants having a rainbow of colors.
Walking through the terrace gardens
The beautiful roses in the back of the garden
The roses in the back of the Cranford Gardens
Walking out the back of the gardens
The back path of the Cranford Rose Garden
The fountain in the back of the Cranford Garden
Visiting the Cranford Rose Garden when it flowering is one of the most interesting collection of colors and scents. This is why I try to time my visits around the blooming of the flowers.
The fountain in the peak of the rose season
The Tour of the Gardens at The Cloisters in the Spring 2026:
One of my favorite places with in the Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit is The Cloisters in any season. One of my favorite places when it is decorated for the Christmas holiday season, the Spring and Summer offer such beautiful displays of historical plants that try to match the theme of each Cloister and its historical background.
The docent led a very large group of us through each Cloister and told us of the way the curators plant the gardens to represent what may have been planted during the Medieval era for medical and nutritional functions of those peoples lives.
(From the Museum website)
The gardens of the Middle Ages included both real and ideal gardens. Poets and artists delighted in the depiction of fantasy gardens like the Garden of Love or of Paradise, but no real garden of the time remains to us. Historical records are rare and incomplete; the ninth-century plan for the monastery of St. Gall, with its carefully drawn and labeled garden beds, is unique. Archaeological excavations are yielding valuable new evidence, but we still know more about infirmary gardens of medicinal plants and aristocratic pleasure gardens than we do about humble kitchen plots of potherbs and vegetables (Met.org).
The gardens of the Museum, planted in reconstructed Romanesque and Gothic cloisters, evoke those that provided sustenance and spiritual refreshment within the medieval monastery. Designed as an integral feature of the Museum, the gardens have been a major attraction of The Cloisters since its opening in 1938, enhancing both the setting in which the Museum’s collection of medieval art is displayed and the visitor’s understanding of medieval life. The gardens are designed and maintained by a horticultural staff actively engaged in researching and developing the living collection (Met.org).
The Cloisters at 99 Margaret Corbin Drive in Fort Tryon blooming in the late Spring
We walked through the Cloister discussing how plantings were determined by medical and religious purposes
The flower beds in the Cloister
The view of the Hudson River was amazing
The flowers in bloom
My video of the Garden Tour in the Summer of 2026:
The video
Flowers in bloom
Flowers in bloom
Flowers in bloom
We moved the next Cloister looking over the medical plants and flowers
The Cloister in bloom
Walking around the Cloister
The plants around the sills of the Cloisters
Touring the Cloisters and admiring the flowers
Everything in bloom
We toured the last Cloister while the tour guide explained the plantings
The last Cloister we toured
The garden in full bloom
The growth of the hops growing on a trellis
The hops planting up close
The flowers in bloom in the Cloister
A wonderful video on “Art and Gardens at the Met”
We ended the tour admiring the art in the Tapestry Room and having a discussion about the use of plants and flowers in Medieval art.
‘The Hunt of the Unicorn’ tapestry discussion
I then visited the ‘Creatures of Myth and Imagination-European and the Americas’ exhibition.
This exhibition was an interesting look at mythical beasts of the era of great exploration from European to the Americas. It reminded me of the book “In Search of Ancient Astronauts” with many golden creatures that look like they are visitors from another planet, Ancient Gods to worship and one civilization’s outlook on the unknown. The artwork was a cross between mysticism and respect.
The exhibition sign for “Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas”
Set in the evocative atmosphere of The Met Cloisters, Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas sheds light on a selection of works created on either side of the Atlantic Ocean between 500 and 1500 CE. The exhibition’s exploration of hybrid creatures deepens our understanding of their apparent necessity among diverse peoples. In the Americas, a complex gold pendant by a Tairona artist of northern Colombia, depicting a confrontational figure with hands on hips, a crocodile-like head, and an enormous headdress, would have reflected and expressed the wearer’s status and power. In Europe, ferocious dragons such as the one depicted on a monumental fresco from the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, Spain, took center stage to convey a multiplicity of meanings both sacred and profane (Met.org).
The exhibition gallery
Unusual mythical creature
(From the museum website)
For as long as humans have told stories, we’ve imagined creatures that transcend the natural world. Fantastical beings combining the features of animals, humans, and even plants appear across cultures, emerging in the most ancient myths and enduring in contemporary epics. The widespread presence of these supernatural beings, possessing the power to transform and be transformed, reflects a global impulse to make sense of both known and unknown worlds. Visual artists have given form to these imaginary creatures, resulting in some of the most fearsome, beloved, and extraordinary works of art ever made (Met.org).
Small gold ancient Gods
Ritual Knives
Double pendants
Earth Deity
I took one last tour of the museum gardens before I left for the afternoon. On the balcony overlooking the Hudson River offered beautiful views and beautiful potted plants.
Walking out of the back Cloister
The back Cloister
The beautiful white flowers
The balcony overlooking the Hudson River
The potted plants by the doorway
The view of the Hudson River
Looking north up the Hudson River
The tour of the Gardens was amazing and the exhibition on the Pre-Columbian art interesting. It was a wonderful tour of the Cloisters.
I had a private function at the Museum of the City of New York across the street from the Central Park Conservatory Gardens. When the event was over, I took a walk around the gardens when they were in full bloom.
The gardens just went through a major renovation and each of the paths had rows of colorful flowers that were beautifully taken care of and designed to bloom at different stages of the growing season so there was always color in the gardens. The effect was amazing.
The entrance of the Central Park Conservatory lawn and fountain
The fountain and the geometric garden
Central Park Conservatory gardens at the entrance
The entrance of the gardens from the Harlem Meer area
The entrance to the flower gardens from the Central Park Conservatory lawn
The Central Park Conservatory garden beds
My video of touring the gardens in Summer 2026:
The tour
The gardens in full bloom in the Summer of 2026
The flower beds in the central of the gardens
The Central Park Conservatory Fountain and Lotus pools
I walked behind Hippo Park in Central Park one afternoon to discover a beautiful floral garden that was the 91st Street Garden that I had missed on previous walks in the park. The Garden did not look like this in the Fall.
The 91st Street Garden in the Summer of 2026
Then I remembered the scene in “You Got Mail” and remembered that this was the garden where they met. I always thought it was closer to Riverside Drive than it was here in the park.
The sign for the garden
As I passed the garden, I remember this was the garden in the last scene of the movie, “You Got Mail” when Meg Ryan realizes that her secret email pal is Tom Hanks. It was such a great scene and the perfect end to a great Rom-Com.
The end of the movie “You Got Mail” with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks
The Gardens from the front
The flowers in full bloom
The flowers in full bloom in July 2026
All I could think about was this scene as I walked around the garden. The funny part is this was the first time I had ever visited this garden as I did not know where it was located. I knew it was on 91st Street but could never figure out where. You have to walk on the path behind the Hippo Playground and follow it to the other path.
The gardens from the front
Walking back up through Riverside park from the Hippo Playground
Walking in Riverside Park in the 90’s
You have to find your way through Riverside Park to find the garden but in the Spring and Summer it is worth the walk up and down the hill.
These are just some of the places that I am still visiting as the Summer season begins and there are more historical sites to see and more smaller gardens to visit. Let’s see what the rains produce in the coming months.
Places to Visit:
*Bloggers Note: the prices of these sites vary from season to season and can change from year to year. This is the same with the hours depending on what season you visit.
Fee: Adults $30.00/Seniors $17.00/Children $12.00/Members & Patrons and Children under 12 are free (prices do fluctuate). NY, NJ and CT students and NY residents Pay as you wish.
Museum Hours:
Hours: Open 7 days a week
March-October 10:00am-5:15pm
November-February 10:00am- 4:45pm
Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25th and January 1st.
*Some galleries may be closed for construction or maintenance.
Fee: Adults $30.00/Seniors/Students $17.00/Children $12.00/Members & Patrons and Children under 12 are free (prices do fluctuate). NY, NJ and CT students and NY residents Pay as you wish.
Museum Hours:
Hours: Open 7 days a week
March-October 10:00am-5:15pm
November-February 10:00am- 4:45pm
Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25th and January 1st.
*Some galleries may be closed for construction or maintenance.
I went on the Spring Garden tour at the Cloisters Museum with a discussion on Spring plantings and the use of those plants during Medieval times. The museum studied what plants were used for religious and medical practices.
We started the discussion of the plantings out in the first Cloister by the Hudson River
The Tour of the Gardens at The Cloisters in the Spring 2026:
(From the Museum website)
The gardens of the Middle Ages included both real and ideal gardens. Poets and artists delighted in the depiction of fantasy gardens like the Garden of Love or of Paradise, but no real garden of the time remains to us. Historical records are rare and incomplete; the ninth-century plan for the monastery of St. Gall, with its carefully drawn and labeled garden beds, is unique. Archaeological excavations are yielding valuable new evidence, but we still know more about infirmary gardens of medicinal plants and aristocratic pleasure gardens than we do about humble kitchen plots of potherbs and vegetables (Met.org).
The gardens of the Museum, planted in reconstructed Romanesque and Gothic cloisters, evoke those that provided sustenance and spiritual refreshment within the medieval monastery. Designed as an integral feature of the Museum, the gardens have been a major attraction of The Cloisters since its opening in 1938, enhancing both the setting in which the Museum’s collection of medieval art is displayed and the visitor’s understanding of medieval life.
My tour of walking the gardens that afternoon:
My video
The gardens are designed and maintained by a horticultural staff actively engaged in researching and developing the living collection (Met.org).
The plantings of the first Cloister we visited
We walked through the Cloister discussing how plantings were determined by medical and religious purposes
The flower beds in the Cloister
The view of the Hudson River was amazing
The flowers in bloom
Flowers in bloom
Flowers in bloom
Flowers in bloom
We moved the next Cloister looking over the medical plants and flowers
The Cloister in bloom
Walking around the Cloister
The plants around the sills of the Cloisters
Touring the Cloisters and admiring the flowers
Everything in bloom
We toured the last Cloister while the tour guide explained the plantings
The last Cloister we toured
The garden in full bloom
The growth of the hops growing on a trellis
The hops planting up close
The flowers in bloom in the Cloister
A very interesting video of “Art and Gardens at the Met”
We ended the tour admiring the art in the Tapestry Room and having a discussion about the use of plants and flowers in Medieval art. The artists at that time thought of the natural world with awe and respect. They admired the beauty of the natural world where in some points was still feared,
‘The Hunt of the Unicorn’ tapestry discussion
I then visited the ‘Creatures of Myth and Imagination-European and the Americas’ exhibition.
This exhibition was an interesting look at mythical beasts of the era of great exploration from European to the Americas. It reminded me of the book “In Search of Ancient Astronauts” with many golden creatures that look like they are visitors from another planet, Ancient Gods to worship and one civilization’s outlook on the unknown. The artwork was a cross between mysticism and respect.
The exhibition sign for “Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas”
Set in the evocative atmosphere of The Met Cloisters, Creatures of Myth and Imagination: Europe and the Americas sheds light on a selection of works created on either side of the Atlantic Ocean between 500 and 1500 CE. The exhibition’s exploration of hybrid creatures deepens our understanding of their apparent necessity among diverse peoples. In the Americas, a complex gold pendant by a Tairona artist of northern Colombia, depicting a confrontational figure with hands on hips, a crocodile-like head, and an enormous headdress, would have reflected and expressed the wearer’s status and power. In Europe, ferocious dragons such as the one depicted on a monumental fresco from the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, Spain, took center stage to convey a multiplicity of meanings both sacred and profane (Met.org).
The exhibition gallery
Unusual mythical creature
(From the museum website)
For as long as humans have told stories, we’ve imagined creatures that transcend the natural world. Fantastical beings combining the features of animals, humans, and even plants appear across cultures, emerging in the most ancient myths and enduring in contemporary epics. The widespread presence of these supernatural beings, possessing the power to transform and be transformed, reflects a global impulse to make sense of both known and unknown worlds. Visual artists have given form to these imaginary creatures, resulting in some of the most fearsome, beloved, and extraordinary works of art ever made (Met.org).
Small gold ancient Gods
Ritual Knives
Double pendants
Earth Deity
I took one last tour of the museum gardens before I left for the afternoon. On the balcony overlooking the Hudson River offered beautiful views and beautiful potted plants.
Walking out of the back Cloister
The back Cloister
The beautiful white flowers
The balcony overlooking the Hudson River
The potted plants by the doorway
The view of the Hudson River
Looking north up the Hudson River
The tour of the Gardens was amazing and the exhibition on the Pre-Columbian art interesting. It was a wonderful tour of the Cloisters.
In the months of March and May right before the Memorial Day holiday, many of the museums I belong to held their private ‘Members Night’, where they hold extra hours for members after the museums are closed to the public to come and see the exhibitions, listen to music, have something to eat and drink and listen to talks about the exhibitions. The funny part is that the museum’s are more crowded on these nights than when they are open to the public.
Walking inside the soaring dining space at the Morgan Library
The first set of ‘Members Nights’ I went to were on March 24th with my first stop at the Morgan Library. I was there to see the ‘Mozart’ exhibition again.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Treasures from the Mozarteum Foundation of Salzburg, an exhibition that traces the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). On view March 13th through May 31st, 2026, this two-gallery exhibition combines the Morgan’s significant holdings in Mozart manuscripts and first editions with remarkable objects, on view in the United States for the first time, from the Mozarteum Foundation of Salzburg. These include Mozart’s clavichord on which he composed The Magic Flute and his childhood violin, as well as famous portraits, letters, and personal objects of Mozart and his family (Morgan Library.com).
Touring the exhibition
Video on the exhibition:
The concert of Mozart as a child
The Magic Flute music and costumes
I happen to love ‘The Magic Flute’ and it was interesting to see the notes and some of the original costumes from the opera at the exhibition.
The costumes from the Magic Flute
After I toured the Mozart exhibition, I toured the rest of the museum that included the original part of the mansion.
The old Living Room
The ceiling outside the exhibition hall
The old Library and Rare book collection
The ceiling in the old Library
I then visited the exhibition of ancient Mesopotamia art scrolls. This was really interesting how this form of written art worked into the collection.
After touring the museum, I went to see what everyone was eating in the museum’s small restaurant was eating because it was getting crowded. The counter was filled with delicious looking desserts.
The sweet treats at the dessert bar at the Morgan Library
The selection of desserts at the Morgan Library the night of Member’s Night
I then visited their very interesting Gift Shop
Admiring the flowers at the Coat Check on the way out. I thought this was a nice touch.
All good things come to an end and I made my way up Fifth Avenue to the Museum of Modern Art for the second part of the evening
I could not believe that the museums arranged these ‘Members Nights’ on the same night. They would plan this three weeks late when the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I just had to enough time at one museum and see what I wanted to see and then go up the next.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) at 11 West 53rd Street
Frida and Diego: The Last Dream celebrates Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera—two of Mexico’s most beloved icons of 20th-century art—in a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera. Organized in conjunction with the Met’s new production of El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, the presentation at MoMA features artworks by Kahlo and Rivera in an elaborate setting designed by Jon Bausor, the set and co-costume designer of the opera. For both the opera and installation, Bausor evokes the artists’ lives and artworks in his theatrical designs (MoMA.org).
Key participants in a movement to redefine Mexican culture and identity after the revolution of 1910–20—Rivera through monumental murals and Kahlo through intimate self-portraits—the artists were romantically involved from 1928 until Kahlo’s death in 1954. The fictional narrative of the opera El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego begins three years after Kahlo’s death and follows an aging Rivera as he summons the deceased Kahlo back to life on the Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday honoring passed loved ones. As the opera and installation design attest, the pair continue to have an enduring influence on artists across the visual and performing arts (MoMA.org).
Video on the exhibition:
The opening of the ‘Frida and Diego’ exhibition brought members out in droves
The description of the exhibition
The tree dominates the center of the exhibition
The signature piece from the exhibition
One of the dominate drawings
Looking over costume designs
Some of my favorite costume designs
Another great costume design
After touring the exhibition, I visited some of the other galleries and looked over other works of art that I admired in the past. I took a quick tour of the Modern Galleries before I left that evening.
The Jackson Pollack work
I loved this creative food service work
After touring the museum, I joined the rest of the crowd on the main floor for music.
The main lobby of the MoMA the night of Member’s Night
A few weeks later, the Metropolitan Museum of Art had planned their Member’s Night and then the Museum of Modern Art planned a Member’s Night the same night. So I planned another night of running back and forth between museums.
Member’s Night at the Museum of Modern Art
The schedule of events
There was a lot of activities happening that evening and I wondered around museum to see all of them. I started in the Museum Garden to hear the singers who were performing that evening.
The first performer was Lizzy Hilliard, who performed the guitar and was really enjoyable to hear. She is a very lively and engaging entertainer.
The crowds were outside enjoying the beautiful weather that evening
My video on the performance by Lizzy Hilliard: that evening:
The video:
Lizzy Hilliard performing that evening in the garden
After the performance, I wondered around the museum to see some of the exhibitions and started on the first floor which was really active.
I love wondering through the lobby of the MoMA.
While most of the crowds were still listening to the entertainment in the garden, I went up to the Marcel Duchamp exhibition and toured the galleries again (I had been there the previous week and quickly walked the exhibition).
The Marcel Duchamp exhibition was the biggest retrospect of the artist’s work in years
Marcel Duchamp is organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Philadelphia Art Museum, with the generous collaboration of the Centre Pompidou. “Contemporary artworks often prompt viewers to ask, ‘Why is this art?’ It is virtually impossible to answer this question without referring to the work of Duchamp,” said Temkin. “More than any other modern artist, Duchamp challenged and transformed the very definition of an artwork.” Kuo added, “Duchamp’s influence is incalculable and his myriad contributions have established him as one of the most important figures in modern culture (MoMA.org).
Our exhibition will foreground the ways in which Duchamp upended conventional oppositions between hand and machine, original and copy, intention and chance, and matter and idea.” MoMA and PMA have a longstanding history with Duchamp’s work. MoMA was the first museum to acquire a work by Duchamp, in addition to including his work in early landmark exhibitions such as Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism (1936) and The Art of Assemblage (1961) (MoMA.org).
Video on the exhibition from the MoMA curator:
I joined the start of the walking tour with one of the docents at the MoMA at the beginning of the exhibition
The gallery was so crowded with people listening to the one docent that was describing the exhibition that I continued on my own. I had never seen much of this artist’s work in museums before and had heard about his piece of changing the look of the Mona Lisa. I really enjoyed seeing it up close.
The 1919 original “L.H.O.O.Q.” was on a card
The 1930 replica “L.H.O.O.Q.”
The information on the replica piece
I then moved on to other works that he was well known for especially his controversial urinal piece.
The work “Fountain” (I thought this was unusual)
The write up on the piece
The last piece that I saw in the exhibition before I left the museum for the Met was his spoke wheel piece.
The work “Bicycle Wheel”
I wondered around the museum for a bit after the tour of the exhibition and admired works in the Modern Wing.
I love Picasso’s Cubism works
After I finished touring the exhibition, I left the MoMA for The Met. The weather was beautiful and with it being light out until almost 8:30pm. It was a beautiful walk up Fifth Avenue with the trees and the flower beds in full bloom.
Arriving at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for “The Met After Hours”
The lobby and rotunda for the event seemed very quiet to me
The beautiful floral arrangements in the lobby area were fresh Cherry Blossoms
The Cherry Blossoms in the urns around the lobby
The American Wing where the Member’s Bar and entertainment was located
The Met seemed very quiet that night. Being the Tuesday after Memorial Day Weekend, I guess most members were getting back to work or still tired from the weekend. It had been a rainy mess the whole weekend and I could not see many people going away.
The bar and the entertainment in the American Wing were located that evening.
I had about two hours before the museum closed for the evening, so I wondered through some of the special exhibitions and started with the “Raphael-Sublime Poetry” exhibition on the second floor.
Raphael: Sublime Poetry is the first comprehensive exhibition on Raphael in the United States, bringing together more than 170 of the artist’s greatest masterpieces and rarely seen treasures to illuminate the brilliance of Raphael’s extraordinary creativity. The son of a painter and poet, Raphael engaged with the foremost writers and thinkers of his age in Rome, displaying a poetic sensibility that captivated his peers and generations that followed. Follow the full breadth of his life and career, from his origins in Urbino to his rise in Florence, where he began to emerge as a peer of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to his final, prolific decade at the papal court in Rome (Met.org).
Dive into the artistic process of one of history’s most beloved and influential artists. A true titan of the Italian Renaissance, Raffaello di Giovanni Santi (1483–1520)—better known as Raphael—matched ambition with lyricism to create works with both intellectual heft and emotional depth, a necessary skill in the complex political landscape of Renaissance courts. In his short life of only 37 years, he achieved such profound success as a painter, designer, and architect that he was regarded as the pinnacle of artistic perfection for centuries after his death (Met.org).
Video on the exhibition with the MoMA:
Video on the exhibition with CBS This Morning:
The work admired as I was walking around the exhibition.
This was my favorite piece from the exhibition
The Raphael Exhibition I know was a big deal for the museum but it really was not my taste in art. As much as I admired the work, the whole exhibition did not ‘grab me”.
I was not as impressed with the art in the exhibition and took a quick tour of the works. I had seen the exhibition on a previous tour of the museum so I just wanted to walk around again to see the works that I missed.
I then went back to the first floor and spent more time at the Costume Art exhibition. There had been so much media on the exhibit that you could not get in without timed tickets but because it was quiet on Member’s Night, I just walked in.
The Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition explores depictions of the dressed body across The Met’s vast collection, pairing garments with artworks to reveal the inherent relationship between clothing and the body (Met.org).
Focusing primarily on Western art from prehistory to the present, Costume Art presents connections between garments from The Costume Institute and objects from the Museum’s other collecting areas. Pairings between fashions and artworks will present a spectrum of connections and experiences: from the formal to the conceptual, the aesthetic to the political, the individual to the universal, the illustrative to the symbolic, and the playful to the profound. These pairings are organized into a series of thematic body types that reflect their pervasiveness and endurance through time and cultures (Met.org).
Video on the Costume Art exhibition:
Walking through the entrance of the exhibition
This gallery was newly created for this collection and I had display the pieces that stood out to me the most in the Costume Art exhibition.
One of the pieces I admired
Some of the Evening clothes I admired
Another piece I admired
I thought this was really unusual
I really enjoyed looking over the exhibition yet wondering how many people would actually wear some of these pieces out in public. It really asks the question “What is art?” Still, I loved the dress with all the human organs on it. Now that would stop everyone in mid conversation at a party.
All good things come to an end again and I left the Met as it was closing for the evening. It really is a pretty site at night looking down Fifth Avenue.
How beautiful the Upper East Side is at night
I was starved when I left the museum and knew not too many places outside the bars would be open this late at night. I remembered Asian 83 on East 83rd Street that still might be open for the evening and I was one of their last customers that night. The food is excellent at this little ‘hole in the wall’ on the Upper East Side.
Dinner at Asian 83, Beef and Broccoli with Fried Rice
I ordered a combination platter of Beef and Broccoli with Fried Rice and an Egg Roll with a Coke. Their prices are so reasonable and their portion sizes are very fair. It was a nice dinner before I left Manhattan that evening.
The Beef and Broccoli entree
Their Egg Rolls are excellent
Being a member of many museums, this is one of the perks about membership. You get to enjoy these wonderful evenings while supporting the museums which in this economy really helps. That’s why I have enjoyed supporting them for years. The donation benefits everyone.
