Museums and Chasing Vermeer by Shannon

Museums and Chasing Vermeer by Shannon - January 2018 Scholarship Essay

One word to use to describe why I want to attend college is museums. I am double majoring in history and art history because I want to go into museum work, mainly curatorial work. When I was in fifth grade, I read "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett for class. I did not think much about it when I saw the cover.

I began to get lost in the world of the book. As we read the climax of the book, I sat at the edge of my seat. The girl and the boy ran through the dark building trying to find it. They only had a few hours until the man who stole it would burn it. Their hearts beat fast as they run their fingers over the cool wood. They know they are the only ones who can find it. Finally, Calder called to Petra that he found it- one of only thirty-five paintings that we have today of Vermeer’s works- The Lady Writing. He took the cloth off of it; the lady’s bright yellow coat shone in the dark. She looked out with a smile. The lady seemed to be glad to be saved.

I could not put the book down when we read. I was in a different world. My dreams at night were of the Lady Writing and the Astronomer lost in his studies. "Chasing Vermeer" was one of the best books I ever read. I loved the Lady Writing, but the Astronomer was my favorite painting. It fascinated me when I was eleven and it still does today. I had begun my own journey chasing Vermeer.

I got books about Vermeer and other Dutch Baroque painters. I absorbed the information and then rattle it off to my mom. I began to find out where some of his paintings were so I could see them for myself. Eight are in New York City and we had to go. When my family was out from Seattle that summer, I made them go to the Met to chase Vermeer. We ran around the museum trying to find the five there. We were lost in the Medieval section- half way across the museum from the Vermeer’s. Finally, through the maze of hallways and rooms, we found them; I was ecstatic. Then, when I was a freshman, I heard the Girl with the Pearl Earring on display at the Frick Collection. I had always wanted to go there, so I dragged my mom there to see the painting and the others in the permanent collection. We stood on line for three hours in the January cold to see it. His paintings are so vivid- the vibrant blues and yellows of the fabrics, the soft touch of the furs, the cool pearls, the quiet genre scenes.

I can get lost in his paintings for hours at a time.
That book made me want to go to college to go into museum work and it made me easily pick my college major.