Teens lined up outside the Museum for last October's Teens Take The Met. Photo by Don Pollard
«Friday, May 20, is quickly approaching and all the pieces are coming together for the fourth Teens Take The Met, a teen night bursting with creativity and fun from 5 to 8 pm that is free and open to any teen ages 13 and up. Among the activities this year are opportunities for teens to create jewelry inspired by ancient Egyptian symbology, contribute to a tape mural inspired by Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #370, and rethink histories of American art by participating in a collaborative poetry activity.»
The Met's Artist in Residence Peter Hristoff will also be there using a giant homemade loom to create a textile together with visitors in Mega-Loom Weavings. Hristoff's work, which includes paintings, prints, and textiles, draws from diverse sources ranging from Greek and Roman sculpture to traditional Islamic rugs. His inspiration for the weaving project came directly from work he did earlier in the year with The Met's high school interns.
A few of the final rugs and acrylics created by high school interns working with Artist in Residence Peter Hristoff. Photo by Betsy Gibbons
Over the course of a couple months, a group of 20 teens moved through the halls of the Museum collecting symbols and images from 5,000 years of art. Eventually, they began creating their own compositions by mapping them out on grids, which helped the teens take the mental leap from thinking about the rugs as drawings to envisioning them as the handwoven minder rugs they would become.
High school interns mapping out their designs for rugs. Photo by Peter Hristoff
Turkish weavers—whom Hristoff visited during the process of creating the rugs to bring questions from the teens to Turkey and the weavers' answers back with him—then wove the teens' rugs. Minder rugs are small (about the size of seat cushions), but the students gasped as they saw each piece they designed. The final pieces will be on display with other artworks from the High School Internship Program from June to August in Carson Family Hall in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education.
For Teens Take The Met, Hristoff will build on the idea of weaving and all the metaphors it carries in a live, interactive mega-loom weaving activity in the galleries. Teens will have the opportunity to weave their individual wishes for the future together into a collective vision. As more people add their wishes and the weft becomes compressed, the textile itself will become stronger. The tighter the weave, the stronger the textile; the more voices, the louder the sound.
Right: A few of the rugs that were designed by high school interns and woven by Turkish weavers. Photo by Peter Hristoff
Come weave and share your voice with us and thousands of other teens at Teens Take The Met on Friday, May 20.
Related Events
Teen Night: Teens Take The Met (Ages 13–18)
Friday, May 20, 5–8 pm
The Met Fifth Avenue – Museum-wide
Free for teens ages 13–18; Museum admission not required
Expressing What Matters: An Exhibition by The Met's High School Interns (Ages 15–18)
Friday, June 17, 6:30–7 pm
The Met Fifth Avenue - Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education
Free; reservations are encouraged