The Met Museum Presents Staff's Favorite Galleries

«The Met is a busy place, but it's also one where you can discover a new gallery with every visit (even if you're a regular) or a space that becomes your personal sanctuary—a gallery that truly feels like your own. A special perk of working at the Met is having the opportunity to explore the quieter corners of the Museum, especially those in which we've staged performances.

As Met staff, we're often asked if we have a favorite gallery or a Museum spot we retreat to for a personal moment. The answer is, of course, "Yes!"—followed by some difficulty in narrowing our answers down to just one selection. As I asked this question around the offices and backstage at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, the Met Museum Presents team shared many wonderful and varied responses. Here is a collection of some of our top Met spaces and experiences.»

Gallery 534: Patio from the Castle of Vélez Blanco, 1506–15. All photos courtesy of Met Museum Presents, except as noted

"I love the Vélez Blanco Patio because it's both an indoor and outdoor space; more specifically, it is an outdoor space that is now indoors. It has some of the most beautiful Baroque and Rensaissance sculpture in the Met's collection, and it is full of narrative. There is such drama in the space, and we get to light it in varied ways, which transforms the space each time."

The view of gallery 131, The Temple of Dendur, as seen from Central Park. Photo by Kelley McGuire

"When the sky is black after work, especially in late fall and winter, and I am walking by the north side of the Museum in Central Park, The Temple of Dendur in gallery 131 is lit up and appears to be glowing. It's such a peaceful and otherworldly sight. Add some snow into the scene for extra tranquility!"

The top floor of The American Wing, which overlooks The Charles Englehard Court

"I love the top floor of The American Wing, which includes some of the period rooms. It's usually quiet and has a lovely skylight."

Shadows at play on the ceiling of gallery 305, the Medieval Sculpture Hall

"Walk into the Medieval Sculpture Hall and look up to behold that stop-you-in-your-tracks choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid and the balcony with the large Byzantine painting. Sometimes the lighting in the gallery creates the most dramatic shadows on the ceiling."

Gallery 401: The Assyrian Royal Court

"One of my most favorite spaces is gallery 401, the Assyrian Royal Court, in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. I keep hoping we will do a concert in there at some point."

Gallery 206: Chinese Buddhist Art

"I love that outside of the crowded exhibition spaces I can find the quietude of the Chinese Buddhist art galleries, 206 and 208, located on the second floor. When we have a performance in that space, the sounds effortlessly comingle with the art. The Buddhas seem to give their approval as you, the listener and observer, transcend temporal space and time.

I especially like the room with the seated Buddhas, gallery 208. The body language of each object—either seated or in a slouching repose with relaxed hands, albeit still in sutra poses—suggests: 'Aaaahhhh, come rest a while,' or 'Sit and talk with me,' or 'Chill and just be.'"

Gallery 734: Shaker Retiring Room, ca. 1830–40

"My favorite area is The American Wing, a museum within itself. There are examples of all genres and disciplines of art in there. I was surprised to stumble across the Shaker retiring room once when I was lost in the galleries."

Gallery 307: Secular Works

"Gallery 307 holds what is currently my favorite object in the Museum: a medieval German tournament shield, which is displayed among the Met's secular medieval collection of (somewhat) ordinary household items. A saucy little owl says, 'Although I am the hated bird, I rather enjoy that.' There's something about his face and the 'don't care' sentiment that makes me laugh every time I pass by him."

Gallery 153—Greek Art: Sixth–Fourth Century B.C.

"The Greek and Roman galleries. After a show, when it's dark outside and individual lights shine on the sculptures, you can hear your own footsteps and you feel like you're the only one in the building."

Gallery 232: Japanese Art

"A gallery I like to retreat to is gallery 232, which houses beautiful works in an incredibly serene space."

Gallery 745: The Frank Lloyd Wright Room, 1912–14

"I like to give what I call the 'Holodeck tour' when friends visit: the hallways above and around the Robert Lehman Collection; the Moroccan Court; and Frank Lloyd Wright's living room from the Little House, Wayzata, Minnesota."

Related Link
Suggested Itinerary—Live Arts at the Met: A Site-Specific Performance Itinerary