As a university student, having a culturally educated aesthetic has always been incredibly enticing. I’ve made it my goal to become more educated and cultured through any experience available to me. This endeavour started when I attended the Van Gogh exhibit in the summer of 2020. While the tickets were a little pricey, I was blown away by the incredible composition of music paired with the stunning visuals from Vincent van Gogh’s portfolio; it was such a fun experience. So I knew, as soon as I saw advertisements for it, that I would have to see Beyond Monet: The Immersive Monet Exhibit.
Let’s start with prices. Basic tickets for students and seniors were both priced at $46 before tax, which is about $4 less than general entry. As I planned for this to be a date, the tickets for my boyfriend and me were over $100 with tax. My wallet hurt, but the day finally came, and we excitedly set off on a date in the city.
The exhibit consists of three main components: two rooms and a walkway. The first room is dimly lit with bridges throughout the room leading to various screens describing Claude Monet’s life and work. Then, you proceed through a trippy walkway with beautiful lights and hanging iridescent fabric. The walkway leads to the star of the show: the Infinity Room, a circular room with a gazebo in the middle and various seats throughout. Here, there is a constant 37-minute showing of Monet’s work—animated paintings blend seamlessly into one another, accompanied by music and relevant text or quotes from Monet and critics.
While I loved going through the exhibit, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. It was a wonderful experience, but for a student on a budget, the exhibit is not exactly accessible or “worth it.” While there are some great, cheaper ways to experience art throughout Toronto, there is no push for youth to experience it due to a lack of affordable prices and lack of advertising towards youth for these experiences. I can’t help but think of the pilot project in France that gave €300 (around $448 CAD) to 18-year-olds to “bring young people to discover the realms of possibility of cultural life.” The project let youth discover any cultural experience they wanted, from books and manga to ballet shows and concerts.
We live in an incredible city with an insane amount of art and culture. I think it’s imperative that we have accessible cultural experiences as we grow up, including a push to learn and grow as adults. Being more cultured in the arts emphasizes the humanity in us all, and in a time where there is so much strife and anger in the world, I think it’s incredibly important to learn about culture and history in the hopes that we can all be a bit more empathetic and open.
