Students from Montserrat College of Art who are studying for three weeks in and around Viterbo, Italy, explore Etruscan tombs during an outing with Dean Laura Tonelli, who is an art historian. The tombs offer the students a peek into the life and art of the Etruscans through the elaborate murals they painted which exist to this day in the tombs’ interiors. Photos by Darrell Masumoto.
Montserrat’s Summer Study in Italy program is well underway with students and faculty based in Viterbo, Italy, and touring art historical sites, museums, and taking classes in painting, photography, drawing and art history.
www.montserrat.edu/academics/study-abroad/italy.php
The program runs for the month of July. Below are recent photos from Italy. New ones will be posted every so often, so come back and see what our group is up to next.
Dean Laura Tonelli
Pit stop in the sunflower field, on the way back from a field trip - with Montserrat student Tommy Hirsch '13, Dean Laura Tonelli, and RISD students Nan Luo and Anna Rosenfeld.
The group, led by Leeza Masia '10, navigating the maze of medieval streets in Viterbo.
Touring the Museum in Tarquinia. Laura tries to answer the question: What happened to all the bones in the Etruscan tombs?
Montserrat Gallery Director/Curator Leonie Bradbury was awarded a $500 Presenter Travel grant for travel to Art Basel, Miami Beach this December.
The Presenter Travel Fund provides monetary assistance to arts programmers or curatorial staff in New England so that they may investigate new or unfamiliar artists or ensembles.
Applicants may apply for funding to help cover the expense of attending festivals, showcases, conferences, or other cultural events where they can see artistic work that they may present in their own community. NEFA encourages applicants to seek out opportunities where multiple cultural events are taking place, so that they may experience as many performances and genres as possible.
The goals of Presenter Travel Fund are to…
NEFA has been a significant cultural force since 1976, when it was created as one of six regional arts agencies nationwide, with funding through the National Endowment for the Arts and New England state arts agencies. Today’s NEFA has evolved considerably from the original regional model; as a 501(c)(3) public charity with additional funding from corporations, foundations, and individuals, NEFA operates with an annual budget of $6 million to develop and manage arts initiatives on local, regional, national and international levels.
NEFA’s mission is to creatively support the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, make vital connections between artists and communities, and build the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector. Each program and project that is brought to life at NEFA is created with the underlying goal of building a stronger and more dynamic infrastructure for the arts. Through research, documentation, and evaluation, NEFA works to demonstrate the economic impact of the arts, and to enhance public understanding of how the arts contribute to the vitality of communities.
As a grantmaker, program initiator, developer of resources, and builder of creative partnerships among artists, arts organizations and funders, NEFA celebrates New England and its characteristic values while playing a national role by distributing model programs, supporting international cultural exchange, and advocating access to the arts for everyone.
Montserrat College of Art’s Japanese Art + Culture travel program is being held through June 24. We will post information on their trip from time to time. There are 10 students on this year’s trip traveling with faculty member Blyth Hazen and Asst. Dean of Student Services Len Thomas-Vickory. Besides taking courses and earning credit, the students will visit significant historical and cultural sites around the cities of Niigata, Osaka, Kyoto, Takarazuka and Tokyo.
Montserrat alumni Emi Okamoto who works at Niigata College of Art and Design and alumus Anders Hagman, assisted with the arrangements. The students are being housed by Japanese families. Alumna Hedwiga Kulig is staying with 3 of the students in a traditional Japanese farmhouse in a small town called Shibata – outside of Niigata.
Blyth Hazen files these reports:
6/2/10
We started the day with a hands on woodblock print workshop with Tetsuo Abe. In the afternoon we had a lecture on contemporary Japanese design practices by Shuihiro Koizumi. We finished the day with a Montserrat/NCAD collaborative drawing workshop. Much laughter and vocabulary building.
6/3/10
Today we went to an Anime/Manga college (JAM) in Niigata – was awesome – hands on Manga wokshops – another Montserrat alumni now works at Jam – I will post more pictures to the Facebook group later.
Mr. Kato the president of NCAD has taken the entire group out for dinner 3 times and is putting Len and me up in a hotel the entire time we are in Niigata.
Top left: Student Natalie Townson working at Purple Beach; Bottom left: A post dinner “Namaste” after faculty cooked for the group that evening. At right: View across the bay at Red Beach.
Last year Foundation, Painting and Drawing Professor at Montserrat, Judith Brown, established a study abroad program on the island of Puerto Rico and its small island ‘suburb’ of Vieques. While visiting Vieques, Brown was inspired to create an artistic program that not only harnessed the physical beauty and unique island pace, but also weaved in the practices of art and yoga.
“In addition to experiencing another culture, the political history and ecology, I designed the Puerto Rico program to encourage students to make a connection between the disciplines of yoga and the creative process. I want them to experience the benefits of yoga and its effects on their art. Practiced in tandem, it can be an effective strategy for emerging artists to harness their creativity from within.”
The components of the program include morning yoga practice, on site studio classes, visits to area museums, a day-long kayaking trip and time in the rain forest of El Yunque. The first Art and Yoga in Vieques, Puerto Rico program ran this past January and was considered by all to be a great success. Six students and three staff members attended the winter session and Brown was pleased with the results.
“I’m happy to report that nearly all of the students who attended the program continued yoga once back at Montserrat and feel it contributes to their artistic practice.”
The next Puerto Rico program will run January 2 – 15, 2010. For additional information, contact Judy Brown at judybrown@montserrat.edu.
