The Minneapolis Institute of Art has many beautiful collections. The evening class that we art students attended proved to be both informative and relaxing. The class reviewed what we had recently studied in the first section. Ancient Near Eastern art, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Aegean were the subjects of our evening. Everyone got to see the Colorado potato beetle, accented by decorative streamers hanging from the ceiling. We were also able to observe pieces similar to those studied. It was a change to take a class trip to the Institute, because compared to sitting around walking around while looking at art, it's still nice. When I wandered through the art rooms, I had a variety of favorites. It is always difficult to choose a particular piece. It's quite exciting to think about all the pieces that have been learned. The Doryphorus (room 203), sculpted by the Roman Polykleitos around 450-440 BC, is astonishing because of the life put into the marble. As there are only four in the world, it is wonderful that the MIA has one in its collections. Birds with Foliage (room 240) is a Syrian mosaic created by an unknown artist. This is a beautiful work created around the same time as Doryphore. The colors are reminiscent of autumn and the birds are graceful and welcoming. The Crouching Lion (room 240), sculpted by an unknown Greek artist in 400 BC, is quite impressive. Later, when I stopped to look at some "miscellaneous objects", a small hematite frog (room 203) struck me. The hematite frog was made in Sumeria around 3000 BC. A kind of chalice bearing the name Ibex (Room 236), was a fascinating Persian/Iranian piece in the middle of a paper ......uite on many occasions. Each experience is varied and I learn something new on each visit. Because I was able to study art this semester, I was able to look at the works we visited in a new way. These are not simple “works of art”, but creations. When we study the context and history of a subject or work of art, it makes a difference in what we learn, especially when we know what is being placed before our eyes. Works Cited Kleiner, Fred. Gardner's Art Through the Ages Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2009 “Minneapolis Institute of Arts” www.artsmia.org October 28, 2011 “The Amica Library” www.amica.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search? October 28, 2011 “The Amica Library” www.davidrumsey.com/amica/amico1280240-99030.html October 28, 2011 “The Minnesota Science Museum” http://www.smm.org/ October 28, 2011