Art, Politics & Power 2017 Study Travel to Belgium & The Netherlands

On the first day in Belgium, I visited the city of Brussels, where my group and I took a look inside the Musee Oldmasters museum. In the museum, they had so many pieces of art made in the 16th and 17th century. One of those pieces being the Assumtion of the Virgin made by Peter Paul Rubens. This painting was extremely beautiful to look at and gave me this great feeling of awe. I say that not only because the painting was in great detail, but also because it was probably 10 times my size. When I stood next to it, not only did I felt extremely tiny, but I also felt like Rubens painted it this way so we could understand the greater meaning of the painting.

If you take a closer look at the painting, you will see some people closing what looks like a tomb, but the tomb is not completely closed. You will see the expression of some of the people’s faces to be that of shock, bewilderment, and surprise. This is because there is a belief in Christianity that when the Virgin Mary died, her body did not stay on earth. Instead, she was taken completely, body and all, back to heaven with God. And because her body was no longer in the tomb, that caused the people to have the expressions on their face to be that of surprise.

This painting is also painted in bright colors to emphasize the happiness of the Virgin going back to be with the Lord. If you look closely at the Virgin and the angels, they are all surrounded by light and the Virgin is outstretching her hands as if she is going to embrace someone. The angels are also happy because they know the Virgin is good and that they are bringing her to heaven.

While I did not do this painting for my freshman seminar project, it was still nice to be able to behold it and see it in person!

Before going on the plane, it was very stressful! Going security made me very nervous because I didn’t know whether the people would let me go on the trip or not. I say this, because while I was in the line, a security officer asked me why I had taken out the wrong “tickets” and why I wasn’t prepared when I got up there. After explaining that I had never gone through the whole “getting ready to board a plane experience” before, I was let through and made my way to the scanner. After going trough the machine, my bag had been pulled aside for inspection. And during that inspection, not only did they have to check my laptop, but I also lost my toothpaste. Turns out that was supposed to go into my checked bigger bag.. oh well, I’ll just get more later!

After finally boarding the plane, that’s when my nerves and excitement started to kick in. I was practically jumping out of my seat, wondering what it would look like outside my window, thinking whether it was going to be a smooth ride or not, and questioning if my ears were going to drive me insane. When we finally took off, my breath was literally taken away! The view outside my window was amazing, I was comfortable the whole time, and the trip was overall amazing! Not once did I ever get afraid, and I enjoyed the experience all the way through! I absolutely can’t wait till I am on the plane to Brussels!

 

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. -St. Augustine

This trip has been in the planning stages, and I mean the real planning stages for 2.5 years, from the creation of the class, a grant proposal to travel to Belgium and The Netherlands in 2014, which then took place in March of 2015, to the long collaboration with travel agents, tour companies, tourist bureaus, conversations with friends, and lot and lots of work with our OIED (Office of International Education).  But the trip idea was born in the summer of 1995, right after I graduated from college.  I never did study abroad during my 4 years of undergraduate work, somewhat because I didn’t want to miss out on the Volleyball team and the training I was doing.  But even more so, I couldn’t really take a semester away because I had set up a contract major for myself at Williams College that required me (and I did this to myself!) to take upper level religion and history courses my junior year, so that the only semester that I could travel abroad that didn’t conflict with volleyball, turned out to be the heaviest writing semester I had undertaken.  I just needed to take several Religion and History courses in order to graduate.  But throughout my undergraduate years, I continuously took art history courses and they ended up being my “fun” courses.  I happened to love all of the stories surrounding art, and especially loved the works of art that were motivated by religious themes-telling stories, explaining the origins of the universe, or it’s eventual demise.  It fascinated me, and I found it more than beautiful….it was awe-inspiring and really made me feel as if I were communicating with a great many minds and hands from the past….from artists and people of all ages who made their ideas known in beautiful and sometimes, intentionally ugly, ways.  I was transfixed in my art history classes and felt as though every word from my professors’ mouths were like nectar from the gods…at least in the Greek Art courses.  I also had an amazing scholar teaching Italian Renaissance art and enrolled in a travel study course through Syracuse University in their international programs department to study abroad in Italy after graduation.  Yes, I was just finishing school and planned to go to Summer School!  It was, at least in my mind, to make up for my lost opportunity to go while an undergrad.

Something really amazing happened to me that summer.  And it changed my life.

I had a plan for after college.  Actually I had two plans, but only one worked out.  I applied to teach at boarding schools in New England.  Since my major was a contract major in religion focussing on the History of Christianity, and not a straight subject matter, I wasn’t really useful to anyone, apparently at that time.  So, I decided to go onto graduate school.  I was accepted at all three of the schools to which I had applied and accepted admission to Princeton Theological Seminary to earn what was then called an “M.A.E.T.S.,” or, a Master of Arts in Education and Theological Studies.  It was in line with what I had been doing.  I was hoping to go into education, but more of the religious sort. I thought my time in Italy would help with the understanding of the Catholic Church, as I had been raised a Presbyterian.  So off I went to Italy!  I had stored my furniture in Massachusetts, ready to get it to move to Princeton upon return to the States.

But every day I woke up to new and amazing things.  I remember my first day in Italy in which our class went to the Bargello, the old jail, in Florence.  This is where, among many other things, Donatello’s Bronze David is displayed.

I had studied this in two courses in Italian Art as an undergraduate, so I knew it’s history and importance.  And as I walked into the room, my heart beat a lot faster and I guess one would call it being “starstruck.”  It’s a shorter statue than life-size, only about 4 feet tall or so, but it’s presence was much larger than its dimensions. I was amazed by the emotion, the detail, the story, the fact that this sculpture has been seen for some many generations, and survived through five hundred years.  And then we moved on.  We saw masterwork after masterwork (that’s easy to do in Florence) and I soaked up everything Italian-culture, food art-all of it!  In my younger days, my body could actually metabolize the 4 gelato a day habit I developed.  We were walking miles and miles a miles to see works of art every day, so I worked it off!  And every day was filled with surprises and delights.  It was magical.  I saw the frescoes in Assisi before the earthquake in 1997 destroyed much of the nave, I saw the Sistine Chapel on a private entrance of JUST OUR CLASS and stared in amazement at the masterwork of Michelangelo’s brush.  I climbed to the top of Trajan’s Column in the Roman Fora, to the top of Brunelleschi’s Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and when I extended my trip to Athens, Greece, to the steps of the Parthenon.

And slowly I came to the realization that this was much more my passion than religion and theology, although I have combined both in my studies ever since.  I wrote Princeton to tell them, and my roommate who had been assigned to me, that I wasn’t coming.  I applied to Art History Graduate school and in the 11th hour was admitted, about 2 weeks before classes started.  I had no idea that my life would move into being an Art History instructor at the college level at that time, but that turn was an important one.

And ever since that day in the Bargello, I thought, “I want to do this! I want to take people to see these amazing things, to learn the stories, to experience the culture.”  And then I had three children, continued to teach when I could, and now that my children are old enough to be in school while I am gone, I finally have the chance to take students to see amazing artworks!  We have spent a semester studying some of the ones we will see, learning their stories and hearing about what they mean to their native cultures, and now we get a chance to experience them in person.

I am sure that this experience will NOT be exactly the same as mine when I was my students’ age.  And I certainly don’t want it to be.  I want it to be exactly what each student needs it to be for them. Perhaps it will help shape their understanding of what we already learned, or help them form opinions about what it means to be an American and what it is like to be in a vastly different culture and place.  I certainly don’t think that students will turn out to be art historians!  In fact, my mother continuously is amazed that I have a JOB in my actual field.  She didn’t think that would happen with an art history graduate degree!  I just hope that the study travel is a growing and enriching experience for each of my students and that they come home knowing themselves a little better-more confident for having done something they have never done before, more engaged with the world around them, and more determined to get the most out of the next 3.5 years at Appalachian!

They look ready, don’t you think?

​First Time Flying!

I was very excited to board the plane today. I’ve never flown before, so I was a little nervous. Going through security was the worst part; I was worried that if answer a question wrong or that they’d take one of my items for whatever reason. It went well though, aside from me thinking I had lost my phone. Fortunately it was just my bag, which was a relief.

At the gate, I had a few minutes to relax before boarding the plane. We went over safety information and the likes, and then we were finally ready to board. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring my carry on luggage, but I had my personal bag with me.

The first few minutes on the plane were a little stressful, mostly because I had to crouch down to walk down the aisle. I started to record the liftoff, but it would be another 20 minutes before we actually flew. I did get some good pictures, though, despite the weather being very cloudy. I’ve never truly gotten the scale of how big a cloud is until now.

 The ride was far more relaxing than I had expected. I was able to sleep for about half an hour or so of the hour long flight. When we landed in New York, I was a little disappointed, because I couldn’t actually see any of the city itself.

Getting off the flight was much easier, as we didn’t have to go through security or get our checked bags. I grabbed something to eat, and hopefully I can take a quick nap before our 7 hour flight.

Awaiting our take off from Charlotte to JFK in New York. We had our first meeting in which we went over the code of conduct and and health related issues and all students have their own copy of their foreign medical insurance cards.

 

UPDATE:  we just landed in New York a little ahead of time and I won’t be giving the minute by minute throughout this process but I did want to report that our two new flyers who’ve never been on planes before were old pros and we will be ready for our overnight flight in JFK. I hope for several daily updates from a variety of students and two assignments have already been given. I also encourage you as the reader of this blog to ask questions, comment, or offer suggestions throughout the trip that we are sharing with you. It is quite a pleasure to travel with these students and I hope that I can see this trip through their eyes as they will be seeing it through mine as well. As I have   Told my students at the beginning of the semester and August that I don’t see teaching and learning as a giving and receiving relationship but rather I see us all as coal learners exploring a wondrous cave together, each of us with our own headlamp pointing out to each other items of interest and new ways of seeing. I hope this trip brings you all new ways of seeing!!

 

Hi! My name is Bailey and I plan to double major in Psychology and Theater. After college, I hope to become a Criminal Psychologist for a government agency like the FBI. I have never traveled out of the country but I have been to New York City a few times and have lived in a few different states.

My documentary was about Max Beckmann’s Christ and the Woman Taken to Adultery. I found Beckmann to be especially interesting because he came to America and continued to paint here after World War II.

I am very excited to be immersed in a different culture and experience a different way of life as well as observe the amazing architecture and history these countries have to offer. 

Hi everyone!! My names Whitney Marr and I’m a freshman at Appalachian State. I’m majoring in Elementary Education in hopes of becoming an Elementary School teacher one day. I have had the opportunity to travel abroad multiple times. I have been to Italy, Ireland, and Scotland. All are beautiful places and I can’t wait to add on to this list by traveling to Belgium and Amsterdam this week. For my first year seminar I researched the breathtaking piece of art, ‘The Amber Room’. By clicking here, https://youtu.be/KfpO1laWQ7g , you will be connected to the video I made discussing the piece of work. I’m honestly just so excited to have the opportunity to travel again and try the many different types of foods & drinks!

Hello, my name is Madisen “Maddie” Lahr. I am a freshman at Appalachian State University. For now I am undecided about my major, but I do know that I want to do something in the medical field, minor in Japanese, and hopefully travel with my occupation. I have not traveled that much in my life. I have gone to Disney World, Niagara Falls, Sanibel Island, and the Bahamas on a cruise.

For my project for Art, Politics, and Power, I chose to do my documentary film on Landscape with Waterfall by Jacob van Ruisdael, which I will see on my trip to Amsterdam. https://youtu.be/Skk7di6ytr4 On this trip, I am very excited to learn more about the importance of the artwork the monuments men saved and why it is a good thing we have it now. I am really excited to learn about the history the cities have undergone in world war 2.

As far as this trip goes, I am super excited about just simply going! I have never visited another continent, I have never ridden on a plane, never used foreign money or used a passport. I am excited to try new food and listen to music I’m not accustomed to. I’m excited to be around people who’s culture is different from mine and get stuff that will remind me of those places!