Final Day in Spoleto!

Final Day in Spoleto!

Today we had our final performances.  The students met in the performance space, Sala Pegasus, at ten o'clock this morning to celebrate the vocal musicians, photographers, actors, and creative writers before walking down to the school to see the final work of the visual artists and photographers.  The program was thoughtful, moving, beautiful, and impressive - these students are incredibly talented!

Everyone is out and about the town saying their final goodbyes before dinner this evening.  We'll be on our way to the airport at six tomorrow morning.  Our last night will be spent eating the delicious food at the Clitunno, star gazing in the convent courtyard, sharing special moments with new friends, packing, laughing, and preparing for the voyage home.

Thank you for following us on this amazing journey.

A più tardi!

India reads her final piece.

Kas reads her final piece.

Victoria recites her final piece.

Bee reads her final piece.

Kat reads her final piece.

Maddie performs her monologue from A Winter's Tale.

Max performs his monologue from A Winter's Tale.

The choir performs "Just a Housewife."

A song from Kiss Me Kate.

Saran, Susannah, and Madi sing "You can Drive a Person Crazy"

Kristen, Sophia, and Stephanie perform "Three Little Maids."

Lucy and Rush perform a duet from Little Women.

Serafino and the photographers explain their digital book.

India (creative writer) and Frances (photographer) smile at the gallery exhibit.

The visual artists pose at their gallery exhibit.

Lauren poses infront of her work.

Katie (artists) poses after the gallery show.

The duomo, scene of our final group photographs.

Thank you from all of the fellows.  It's been fun posting our time here in Italy.

Fellows: Julia, Rush, Whitney, Aaron, Nance, and Alison with mentor, Jan.

Final Day Trip and Performance Class

Yesterday (Thursday) we travelled to two cities, Civita di Bagnoregio and Orvieto for our final day trip.  Civita di Bagnoregio is a town situated on the cliffs near Orvieto.  Since its Etruscan inception and full occupancy during the Middle Ages, its population has dwindled due to damage from earthquakes and WWII.  The town is now a summer destination and is only accessible by a footbridge. 

Civita di Bagnoregio

The footbridge to Civita di Bagnoregio

The main square in Civita di Bagnoregio

In Orvieto students were free to sample the local food offerings and products such as olivewood goods and pottery.  Lorenzo Muti led us through Capella di San Brizio in Orvieto’s Duomo.  Please see Marybeth Immediata’s explanation on this experience and how it relates to the “Arts and Ideas” course below.

On Thursday Art and Ideas students had one final opportunity to utilize the “town as text” model as they examined the Renaissance frescoes completed by Luca Signorelli in the Capella di San Brizio in Orvieto’s cathedral.  There they viewed Signorelli’s unusual depiction of the end of the world as well as his portrayal of life beyond the grave, specifically his rendering of Dante’s literary description of hell. Throughout the week students had been discussing and dramatizing the various cantos they were reading, exploring Dante’s use of contrapasso in the various levels of Inferno, focusing on how the sights and sounds described so vividly by Dante the pilgrim served Dante the poet’s larger purpose.  During our final class, held in the Mercato in the upper part of town, amid cappuccinos, pastries, hot chocolate and gelatos, students commented on the two cantos from Purgatorio and Paradiso and their personal aesthetic response to selections from this literary masterwork. As they prepared to depart Spoleto they also commented on ways in which their perceptions about art and culture have been impacted by this brief exploration of art and ideas.

View of Orvieto from the bus

The Duomo in Orvieto

Mr. Muti telling the students the history of the Duomo

When we returned to Spoleto students participated in the third and final performance class.  Please see the pictures below of some of our performers.

Saran, vocalist

Max, vocalist

Susannah, vocalist

Avery, writer

Maddy, writer

Liam, pianist (moments before he performed an original composition)

Emma's work

Clare explaining her work

Lauren's work

Amanda's work

Abby explaining her work

Claire's work

Grace explaining her work

Alana explaining her work

Our Final Photographic Journey

         The photography class continues to take memorable photographs in Spoleto, despite the sadness of the upcoming departure. There is a bitter sweetness to capturing the last moments. All of the students have enjoyed building relationships with the local community and creating a visual tapestry of their memories.

Students were introduced to the local Red Cross of Spoleto. Under Serafino's guidance, they continued to learn about portraiture and capturing the moment. In addition to increasing the students' technical abilities, the students also got the wonderful opportunity to interact with the community.

 On Monday, the creative writing and photography students went out on the much anticipated sunflower field trip.

                                     Students worked on getting the best angles for each shot.

                                          The students collaborate while reviewing photos. 

Serafino has been working on teaching the photography class about traditional photography. He showed them how to take polaroids, and is taking a polaroid of every student to showcase their personality. Each student will have an incredible piece of memorabilia to take home and keep for the rest of their lives.

 Each student’s ability to take portraits that are well lit and compositionally balanced has grown tremendously.

Though the sunflowers weren't as lively as they had hoped, the students enjoyed posing in them and create lasting memories. They found that in a way, the sunflowers symbolized the end of our journey in Spoleto. 

The students' final gallery exhibition will take place on Saturday. They look forward to sharing their work with their friends and family upon their return.