This intensive three-week course investigates how artists respond to place through site-specific and context-responsive practices. Working between Rome and Venice, students will encounter centuries of Italian art, from ancient Roman architecture to Renaissance painting, and examine how contemporary artists draw from, respond to, and transform these historical legacies. Students will visit historic sites, museums and galleries, as well as the Venice Biennale, one of the world's most significant exhibitions of contemporary art. At the Biennale, they will experience firsthand how artists from around the globe address issues of place, identity, and history through large-scale installations and performances. Readings and studio sessions will serve as inspiration and framework for students to develop new, experimental artworks that engage with the sites, histories, and artistic traditions they encounter. Students will consider how meaning shifts across time and place as they build original work in response to their experiences in Italy. 

Open to students from across the university, the course welcomes participants from any discipline prepared to investigate site-specific, experimental, and research-based art.