Last summer I was a high school intern at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Working at the Met was a dream for me. Each morning I took the train from Brooklyn to the Museum Mile, with my Met ID hanging around my neck, excited about the day ahead. I've been visiting the Met for years with my family and friends, and had always wanted to be a part of it.

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Thomas Hart Benton's America Today Mural Rediscovered is a bold exhibition. The imagery on the ten canvas panels begs for surround sound. The husky black train barrels forward, its smokestack billows, and its whistle shouts, "Woo-woo!" The airplane's propellers whir. And women in provocative, swishy dresses dance to popular jazz songs of the 1920s. (Twerking's got nothing on these gals.)

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Every age, and every culture, has its rebels. Often, these rebels are inspired by a societal trauma. The Great War, later known as World War I, polluted the world by fostering a "lost generation." In reflection of this evolution, Sigmund Freud advanced his science of psychoanalysis, challenging the logic of man. Albert Einstein augmented his theory of relativity, questioning the prudence of physics. In art, the rebellion manifested as Cubism.

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Yosemite is one of the United States' most popular national parks. It is no shock that Carleton Watkins wanted to photograph the park, with its breathtaking waterfalls, towering trees, and high rocky cliffs. But back in the mid-nineteenth century this was not an easy task. All of his photographs were produced on albumen silver prints from a glass negative—a very rarely seen, old-time photography technique.

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Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, 1727–1804). A Dance in the Country, ca. 1755. Oil on canvas; 29 3/4 x 47 1/4 in. (75.6 x 120 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1980 (1980.67)

We in Teen Programs are taking a little break to enjoy the holidays and will be back in the new year with new posts. In the meantime, happy holidays to all, and best wishes for 2015!

Death becomes her, or rather, death becomes you. Though the title of The Costume Institute's current exhibition Death Becomes Her is daunting, the show highlights the beauty of the mourning period. All throughout history, black has been seen as a dark, sorrowful, and empty color, perfectly fit for the clothes of a mourner. However, in this exhibition, black is the epitome of style. Some of these dresses were worn by Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra themselves from 1815 to 1915. For these women, mourning didn't mean sulking in your house in a fit of rags; you went out and evoked mystery to everyone you encountered.

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It's taken me years to admit, but I have an addiction to all things Japanese. At the impressionable age of five, my father showed me my first Godzilla movie; several King Ghidorah action figures, three hundred Pokémon cards, and fourteen Studio Ghibli films later, I've not only converted my calculus notebook into a journal in which I try to memorize Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji, but I've come to terms with the extent of my obsession. As a result, it was practically inevitable that I found myself roaming through the Met's exhibition Kimono: A Modern History, on view through January 19, 2015. Featuring a range of kimonos from the eighteenth century to the present day, it fed right into my interests.

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Happy Thanksgiving from Teen Programs at the Met! There are a number of artworks in the Museum that depict this time of year; one example is this painting by Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses. The people in this rural scene are preparing for Thanksgiving by catching a turkey. Their energy while chasing the turkeys and their brightly colored jackets add warmth to this charming scene. This family's Thanksgiving preparations are a reminder of our own holiday traditions.

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The last time I was wandering around the Met, I heard four successive "Wows!" exclaimed by awestruck museumgoers as they entered gallery 206, the entrance to the Asian Art galleries. This comes as no surprise to me, as the impressive thirteen-foot-high statue of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva that sits in the gallery is stunningly amazing. The entire gallery is quite remarkable. However, what I feel is truly amazing about this part of the Museum is the immediate quietness and tranquility one encounters when they walk up the steps into the smaller galleries that make up the wing.

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