What it was like to be a Bad Ass B*tch at the Metropolitan Museum with Museum Hack.

Back in the 1970’s, my mother got me a spiral bound, probably mimeographed workbook of Metropolitan Museum Treasure Hunts.  I still vividly remember the bright turquoise cover with its hand drawn Met hippo, the black type, and black spiral spine. I also remember begging my mother to take me to the Met so I could do more treasure hunts, looking for animal motifs in ancient pottery, or designing my own Arms and Armour.

Now that I no longer have to beg anyone to take me to a museum, you’d think I’d go all the time. You’d be wrong.  I visit a museum maybe three or four times a year.  Which may seem like a lot to you if you don’t live in New York, but when you walk by world-class museums quite literally EVERY day, and only go three times a year?  Not much to brag about.

Why don’t I go?  Because while I do know a little something about art…it’s not enough.  I often find myself looking at work and thinking, I should know something about this thing…but I really don’t.  And wandering around aimlessly gets tired after a while.

So I was very happy to get an invitation to attend a Museum Hack tour.  What’s Museum Hack? They call themselves “Museum tours for people who don’t like museums.”  They host their “adventure museum tours” in NY, DC and San Francisco. With names like “The Mating Game,” (at the Natural History Museum) “Big Gay Met,” and “Badass Bitches at the Met” these are NOT your grandmother’s museum tours.Continue Reading