Serena Lin ‘25
Last week, I got the opportunity to visit the Getty Art museum as part of the Claremont Colleges’ McAllister Center for Spiritual & Religious Life. The Getty Museum is a popular museum in Los Angeles, about 1 hour’s drive from Pomona’s campus and home to over 20 exhibitions and 125,000 artifacts. We were visiting the Lumen: “The Art and Science Of Light” exhibit, which explored ideas of light & the intersection between art and science across various faiths such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
The group included students of all years across the 5c’s of different faith traditions, which made for insightful conversations on the long bus ride there & back. It really encapsulated the quintessential Pomona conversation–balanced between deep laughter and deep thought. The topics ranged from the importance of interfaith collaboration in scientific advancement (i.e. the astrolabe, a medieval sun-based time telling tool) to the chaos of course registration and watching ducks bicker in the water maze.
Pomona’s small liberal-arts environment means that students don’t have to put themselves in a box. This opportunity was available for me as a Neuroscience major with no prior background in art. This small and diverse environment has given me the chance to explore so many new interests, such as being an active member of the Interfaith council and also taking art and design classes. Especially amid heightened political polarization on college campuses and around the world, having the chance to learn from and meaningfully connect with people of different backgrounds has been especially special.
I also found the Getty museum overall to be fascinating, as it emphasized the intersection between science and art. There were displays that involved light beams and audio waves, historical microscopes, and more! Although I’m likely not going to pursue art full time, it was really encouraging to see a real-world example of the benefits of a multidisciplinary education. Science can explain to the mind how the world works, but art can convey those stories in a way that speaks to the soul.
Not everyone will visit the Getty, but here are some ways that you can get in touch with your inner artist right on our campus:
1: Visit the James Turrell Skyspace, built by Pomona Alum James Turrel ‘65. He was a psychology major renowned for his work in the Light and Space Art movement, combining physics and art.
2: Go to Pomona’s Benton Museum of Art
3: Create your own artwork at the Hive or simply grab a notebook and go sketch on Marston Quad.