Every Monday for the last three weeks, art teacher Lisa Smith has been painting at The Metropolitan Museum in New York City.  Smith had always had a burning passion for painting, so when she learned of this opportunity, she decided to take the chance. Smith applied to be invited to the museum earlier in the year, getting her acceptance email on her birthday in August. 

Smith flies to New York and will paint for nine consecutive Mondays, and she is scheduled to finish her piece in December.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, commonly known as the Met, is the largest museum in the Americas, and in 2022 it hosted over 3,000,000 visitors. It contains many famous paintings such as “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze, and is known as one of the top eight most visited museums in the world, making it a museum that almost everyone has heard of.

“I was invited to paint there for nine days in a row, copying a master work while sitting in front of it…while the museum is open,” Smith said. “So basically a live painting session, but with a master artwork.”

Smith originally thought she might get to copy “Moonlight Strandgade” by Vilhelm Hammershoi.

“I think it’s beautiful, and I hope I can do it justice,” Smith said.

However, she ended up copying the master work, “The Horse Fair” by Rosa Bonheur.

Smith has been teaching since 1993, and she has taught all kinds of art classes, along with a reading class. Her visit to the museum is not paid for, but she is more than willing to pay for her visit to have such an amazing opportunity. It is a lot of pressure, especially with the thousands of visitors streaming into the Met each day, but she is not nervous.

“It’s just fun,” Smith said.