Susky Alumni Takes Manhattan

By Ryan Hartley, Photography Editor
October 15, 2018

2018 Susquehannock Alumni and Freshman at the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, Lucy Curran, is ready for the day ahead silently watching the quickly wakening city hustle. Located in Midtown, Manhattan, Lucy sits among some of the busiest streets in the world filled with artists, businessmen/women, residents of NY, and others. Every morning, she sits at her window with a hot cup of tea and her laptop to watch funny videos. She always tries to do something that calms her down and eases her nerves for the day.   Image – Ryan Hartley

 

On her way to her favorite coffee shop, Bean & Bean Co., she looks down 28th St. to view the commotion of the city. She passes this street almost every day that she has classes. Going to the coffee shop eases her into her day and allows her to feel a sense of community at the start of her morning. Curran states, ¨Even though New York is, well, New York and has an abundance of people, I can get lonely at points. You’d think that with all of this opportunity I could find my place, but I am still looking for it.” Image – Ryan Hartley

 

When she finally arrives at the Bean & Bean in Midtown, she orders a berry parfait and hot chai latte, extra foam to warm her up before her day. She tries to sit in the same seat every morning and look out on the intersection on the other side of the glass window. The shop she is in resides just a block south of the Fashion Institute of Technology, another art and design school in Manhattan. The close proximity of universities in this area of New York provides a student-town like atmosphere with the New York flare the city always seems to have. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

Curran walks back South a few blocks to her 9:00 am Art History class. Passing through construction as seen in the image above, it is not uncommon for her to have to shuffle her way to her destination. She, as she puts it, likes to treat the sidewalks like “obstacle courses”. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

The buildings outside of Curran’s AM class are an old taste of Manhattan with the newer life of those currently residing in them. Around since the colonization of the new world, the city of New York pervades through the atmosphere around every person who walks through its tall buildings and paved streets. Lucy lives and attends class in an older section of Manhattan, so the architecture most definitely resembles that of older generations. Just next to those pictured above, she has an Art History class in which she attends two times a week. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

Curran goes to Central Park to eat some lunch and watch the dog park. She’s reminded of her life back in Southern Pennsylvania, but wouldn’t want to change a single step she has made. Going to school for Illustration Design, she plans on exploring careers in the bookmaking world, creating covers and illustrations for different publications. Curran states, “This is what I’ve dreamed of. To use my art in a way that is sustainable yet still lets me live my life as an artist.” Image – Ryan Hartley

 

While in Central Park, Curran explores a bit and finds the Bethesda Terrace. The monument is located towards the center of the park and has now become one of Curran’s favorite sights to see. Often times, one can find many tourist groups seeing the Terrace and accompanying lake and fountain. However, there are always the locals present, maybe even our student Lucy Curran. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

Waiting for her friend near a Southbound Subway station, she checks what homework she will have to do for the night. Typically, she has unconventional work to do at home. Instead of studying a textbook and slaving over, what seems like, millions of research papers, Curran has a large amount of painting and illustration projects. On this day, she had to complete the backdrop for her self-portrait in her painting class. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

Curran finds time to get some work done for her art history class at a table outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She must study different types of styles throughout history and practice for a big test she has the next day. The “Met” museum is next to Central Park and attracts millions of visitors every year. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

Looking over her shoulder, she sees the many people visiting the “Met” from around the world.  Tourist groups, school children, parents and their own children, art students, and New York residents all flock to the museum at its open every morning, every day of the week. The museum is most famous in more contemporary times for the esteemed “Met Gala” in which fashion designers from around the world have celebrities wear their pieces for a night at the museum, following a specific theme given by Vogue’s editor in chief, Anna Wintour. Image – Ryan Hartley

 

Curran finally makes it back to Mid-Manhattan and meets up with an old friend at a café for the evening, both ordering a warm hot chocolate. When deciding what to do for the rest of the night, Curran opts to retreat back to her bedroom where she started her day and complete her painting then fall asleep with the white noise of the nightlife bleeding through the city streets. Image – Ryan Hartley