{"id":165,"date":"2018-10-10T18:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T18:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/?p=165"},"modified":"2018-10-10T19:34:05","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T19:34:05","slug":"study-abroad-in-roma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/2018\/10\/10\/study-abroad-in-roma\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Abroad in Roma!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last spring, eight intrepid, imaginative students engaged in a Connections class, Rome:\u00a0 Sketchbooks and Space Studies<\/em> that combined scholarly research and studio practices, culminating in a three-week trip to Rome from May 14-June 4, 2018.\u00a0 Below are brief yet vivid reflections on a transformative trip full of memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Each student also provided a photo that represented a meaningful moment in Rome.\u00a0\u00a0 Also included are photos of each student in their studio at the University of Washington\u2019s Rome Center.<\/p>\n

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CONN 370 Students<\/p><\/div>\n

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Justine Jones<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Justine Jones<\/p><\/div>\n

The picture below is one of the happiest memories I have of Rome\u00a0because it was a morning when Max, Rebecca and I woke up early to get breakfast, sit on a stoop, and paint the buildings around us. This image just captures how inspiring Rome was and also how the three of us bonded from living together.<\/p>\n

I got the wonderful opportunity to meet and build\u00a0relationships with people I may not have otherwise done without the trip to Rome. Studying abroad allowed me to separate myself from\u00a0a comfortable environment where I knew everyone and really let me experience Rome and create new, genuine, friendships. Having studio time while in\u00a0Rome was incredible. I was able to be surrounded by historic art every moment and I\u00a0felt like that really charged my creative nature to create something of my own.<\/p>\n

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Max Forgan<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Max Forgan<\/p><\/div>\n

One\u00a0of the most\u00a0memorable\u00a0moments of the Rome trip\u00a0took place at the\u00a0Villa d’Este. The\u00a0mystical\u00a0environment\u00a0helped\u00a0my\u00a0imagination\u00a0run\u00a0free\u00a0in a\u00a0way I had only been able to experience as a child;\u00a0ultimately\u00a0serving as a testament to\u00a0how powerful art can be. The\u00a0group’s\u00a0dynamic\u00a0of looking out for each other is only\u00a0explicable by a\u00a0sense of inclusion,\u00a0acceptance, and open-mindedness\u00a0brought-on\u00a0by such unique personalities. This translated through activities like\u00a0communal dinners and especially when it came time to practice in the studio. By being around\u00a0dedicated artists, I was able to garner honest feedback which helped me\u00a0leap\u00a0out of my comfort zone and apply\u00a0techniques with which I was\u00a0not yet comfortable. The end product\u00a0was a\u00a0reflection of\u00a0many hours and risks\u00a0made possible by learning through experience.<\/p>\n

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Elayna Caron<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Elayna Caron<\/p><\/div>\n

My experience in Rome was three of the best weeks of my life.\u00a0 I tried to allow whatever experience that was destined to happen, happen. There is no better way to get to know a group of people than being thrown out of your comfort zone, into a country halfway across the world, in a new culture, and new space. Rome was a sensation overload, with smells of jasmine following you everywhere we went, the lingering taste of gelato, the sounds of drunk voices, and the golden light casting its shadows on each evening. We had the privilege of creating art while we were in Italy, I used this change of scene to break out of my medium and try new kinds of art making including the use of acrylic paint. I was inspired by the textures of the city and the raw vulnerability of contemporary art being created in Rome. I will never forget this experience.<\/p>\n

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Ian Chandler<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Ian Chandler<\/p><\/div>\n

Rome allowed me to experience a contrast between thinking as a professional and student artist. It was as if I were in an art residency, in a truly amazing place I\u2019d never been before. The experience strengthened my personal goals as an artist and my connection to the UPS and larger art community.\u00a0 My studio practice allowed me to experiment with texture and space in a new light. After seeing so much antiquity and classical art, my entire scope shifted and I was able to reflect on myself and my intentions as an artist on a new plane.<\/p>\n

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Walker Hewitt<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Walker Hewitt<\/p><\/div>\n

Going abroad is difficult, you are thrown out of your comfort zone.\u00a0 However, doing this in a group fostered trust and a dynamic that is unique to just us. It was a privilege to be so close to everyone on the trip, they were so respectful and helpful and goofy and light-hearted and positive even when things were tough. I’m so grateful for all the time we spent together especially in group outings and communal dinners and games and art-making.<\/p>\n

The studio time was an excellent culmination to the experience, it gave us time and space to be in our own heads and reflect on the trip as a whole, and encouraged us to savor the last moments of it all. I worked on a painting that included\u00a0some of the most memorable, interesting and visually captivating subjects I had come across in Rome. It was a collage of images that I\u00a0had collected throughout the trip and acted as a meditation on everything I had seen or done.<\/p>\n

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Rebecca Heald<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Rebecca Heald<\/p><\/div>\n

The image below is one taken of Walker and\u00a0others whom\u00a0I do not know from within the exhibit, “Take Me, I’m Yours”\u00a0at the Villa Medici. Quite literally in this exhibit, but also in many museums and places we went and experienced throughout the three weeks, we were allowed, if not encouraged, to take, touch, and interact with art and space in a way that is quite different, if not inexistent in the United States.<\/p>\n

When experiencing another culture, especially for the first time, having people beside you with similar intent is powerful because everything our group did together was amplified simply by being in the presence of one another. Living in close quarters with the same initial, directional confusion allowed us to find comfort in knowing that we were all clueless, yet curious to discover and excited to share what we discovered.<\/p>\n

My studio practice was a jumble of sorts at the beginning for everything that I absorbed up to that point seemed worthy of translating into some form of tangible reflection. As I pressed on, however, studio time allowed me to reflect as I experienced – a practice that helped shape and formulate thoughts, places, and days.<\/p>\n

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Kiri Bolles<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Kiri Bolles<\/p><\/div>\n

The photo below is from a long walk back to our apartment some of us took along the Tiber. We saw locals fishing for eels and enjoyed the evening light on the water.<\/p>\n

Being abroad with this group worked really well. There weren’t too many of us and since we were all in the same apartment building we were able to have community dinners almost every night.<\/p>\n

I loved doing little watercolor landscapes throughout the trip when we visited different locations. Even though I did something unrelated for my studio work, the highlight for me was the opportunities to do some plein air painting.<\/p>\n

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Anj Cunningham<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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Anj Cunningham<\/p><\/div>\n

The photo below may seem like a strange photograph to have chosen, however, for me, it represents motion, transformation, and general intensity, all words I would use to describe my understanding of Rome. This is a photograph of the\u00a0biggest fountain at the\u00a0Villa d’Este in Tivoli. We learned that this fountain had been transformed into an extravagant\u00a0centerpiece\u00a0during the 1930s after Bernini’s original fountain was dilapidated beyond repair. This,\u00a0to me, was both an amazing vision of how water acts, and a profound\u00a0example of the reinvention and dramatization of something from the past.<\/p>\n

During the time that we were\u00a0in Rome, we were all able to see various examples of how the past had and has been invented, reinvented, destroyed, enhanced and generally the way\u00a0things have\u00a0changed. Being in this group allowed everyone to comprehend these observations all in very different and profound ways. We were able to share ideas, thoughts, and realizations as we traveled through the rich timeline that is Rome.<\/p>\n

This community allowed for the studio time to be productive for some and overwhelming for others. It was quite a task to begin to work through and reflect on the fast-paced experience we had all taken part in. The studio served as a reminder that although time moves with the same rhythm\u00a0and terrifying pace of water (like the fountain in the photograph) we always have the ability to create a kind of\u00a0sanctuary for contemplation, understanding and, if appropriate, work.<\/p>\n

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Last spring, eight intrepid, imaginative students engaged in a Connections class, Rome:\u00a0 Sketchbooks and Space Studies that combined scholarly research and studio practices, culminating in a three-week trip to Rome from May 14-June 4, 2018.\u00a0 Below are brief yet vivid … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":561,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-highlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/561"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions\/204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}