'Your Map Is Wrong'

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
45
48
65
13-Year-Old West Hartford Student Tells Metropolitan: 'Your Map Is Wrong'



WEST HARTFORD ——
Every so often, a visitor at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City questions the accuracy of an exhibit, but Helen Evans, one of the museum's curators, says not all of them are right.
Benjamin Lerman Coady, however, was.
Benjamin, 13, of West Hartford, is a seventh-grader at Renbrook School. Fascinated by history, he reads ahead in his textbooks. His mother sees his passion for the past and tries to provide an environment where Benjamin feels free to explore his interests.


That's how mother and son ended up at The Metropolitan Museum of Art last summer.
"It's more a parent seeing the world through a child's eyes," said Benjamin's mother, Joanne Lerman.
Benjamin wasn't quite sure what to expect at the art museum. He and his mother had visited the American Museum of Natural History a few times, but the Metropolitan was a new experience. Benjamin said he thought he'd see "just art on a wall."

He said he quickly learned that The Metropolitan is about more than just paintings — it's also about history.

While touring the museum, Benjamin and his mother stopped to look at the permanent exhibit about the Byzantine Empire — a part of history Benjamin had just studied in school.
A map of the empire in the 6th century was on display, and Benjamin said he immediately began to check the dates. The map was supposed to show when the empire was at its largest, but Spain and part of Africa were missing, he said.

Benjamin told a museum docent about his observation, who instructed him to fill out a form at the front desk.

"The front desk didn't believe me," he said, explaining that he never expected to hear back from the museum. "I'm only a kid."


more


13-Year-Old West Hartford Student: A 13-year-old West Hartford student tells the Metropolitan Museum, 'Your Map Is Wrong' - Courant.com