Art and Art History in Rome: Materials Making Meaning
Program Description
In Spring 2024, the School of Art + Art History + Design will offer a unique opportunity to study and create art in the vibrant and historic city of Rome. Through site visits within the city as well as field trips to additional areas of interest in Italy, students will experience first hand some of the most influential artwork of Western civilization, much of it still in the context for which it was created. Living and working in the center of historic Rome allows for daily encounters with the rich layers of ancient, classical, medieval, baroque, and contemporary visual culture that have made the city a destination for artists throughout history.
The program will offer students an exceptional opportunity to integrate knowledge and exploration in both art making and art history. The program title, “Materials, Making, Meaning,” points up the profound historical and contemporary links between the physical materials of art, the process of fashioning them into artworks, and the ways in which artists have employed material and process to generate uniquely visual forms of meaning. An introductory program module will expose all students to these dynamics, both in the creative process and in the study of art history. During the second half of the quarter, students can self-select an art or an art history track to pursue more in-depth artistic or art historical projects that explore the issues raised in the introductory module using the unparalleled artistic and cultural resources of Rome and Italy.