As an art history major, I have a deep personal love for museums and the treasures which they hold. However, I've begun to notice, as I become more knowledgable about this love, there's something that doesn't sit quite right with me: Museums should be for everyone, but they are not accessible to everyone. This inspired me to write this piece, regarding the universal experience that I hope for museums one day to be.

sat primly upon the shelf, well out of reach

getting a good perspective on the situation is nearly impossible,

but if you do, it comes at a price

we must be very, very quiet or we will surely scare the prestige away

in this land of the sculpted and portrayed, pretense is king

but michelangelo did not sculpt goliath

the sure bet, the mammoth of a man

rather, he created david

the small, the meek, the outside bet

museums were made for underdogs

but van gogh died a man of poverty,

he sold but a handful of paintings before his death

and to his brother, no less

to everyone else, he was little more than an alcoholic who cut off his ear for a prostitute

mental institutions were like a second home, to which he made frequent visits

does that make his sunflowers any less dynamic?

are his nights any less starry?

museums were made for individuals of all mental acuity

but frida kahlo was a disabled woman

her spina bifida did nothing to stop the development of her backbone

she created a surreal world that was entirely her own from her bed

and shared her experience in a world that largely ignored her

museums were made to be accessible

but basquiat dropped out of high school

samo was banished, couchsurfed, made his living by post cards

in the 80's, he painted the streets of new york with his success

and his controversy soon became the mainstream, from couch to california king

do you care that that piece you're bidding on has no degree?

museums are made for all levels of education and income

my museum is not a church

my museum is not a coffin

my museum is not stagnant

it is alive, it is culture, it is zeitgeist

it is breathing, and pulsing with the heart of the community in which it lives

it wants you to laugh, it wants you to touch, it wants you to think

it is universal, opening its doors to any who care to enter

it is a learning space

it is a public forum

it is a place to understand and question and debate

it is a place to feel together

it is a place to feel alone

it is a place to feel joy, worry, grief, confusion, and everything in between - the artist's, as well as your own

museums are made to feel