Philadelphia Museum of Art

When I moved to Philadelphia just before my corps year started, I heard that I needed to go to the Museum of Art. I was encouraged to go on a Sunday, when admission was pay what you will. Somehow, between the Monday through Friday service and serving as a Team Leader in the Young Heroes program on Saturdays, I never made it over. Sundays were for recuperating from a busy week and doing laundry and grocery shopping.

This fall, in my second year with City Year Greater Philadelphia, I had a guest come to stay with me. She and my roommate decided to go to the Art Museum. I let them know I would meet them there.

Upon arrival, I wasn’t shocked or startled by anything. I made my way through galleries of standard looking still-life studies and portraits. I started to notice a difference between this and other art museums as I made my way up a staircase at the end of the building instead of the main entrance. The walls of this minor stairwell were lined with Dutch tiles.

When I reached the second floor, I was amazed less by the art on the walls and more with the installation method. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, there are a number of rooms that have been relocated and redone in period fashion to illustrate what a medieval cloister, an 18th century French salon, or an Elizabethan English Hall resembled at the time of their use.

I kept walking, growing more in awe of the collections and their presentation. I didn’t care anymore that finding my friends had turned into more of an endeavor than I’d initially counted on. Then, instead of my friends, I found them.
The Constantine Tapestries. Looming, immense and looking down at the main staircase.
Looking at these billboard-sized panels of fabric, each telling a different scene from the life of the Roman emperor, my eyes started tearing up. I am no artist. My interests often lay more within the realm of history or science museums than art. Yet, seeing these immense, beautiful and toiled over works inspired me. My visceral reaction to these tapestries made me want to return to the museum again and again to appreciate the art and atmosphere that this particular museum had to offer. This is why the Philadelphia Museum of Art is my favorite in Philadelphia, and is well worth going to for full price or on pay what you will Sunday.

Megan, 24, recruitment senior corps member