Visual Art in Europe
- This program will focus on current practices in art-making, culture and history in Amsterdam, Berlin and Venice.
- The program includes visits to museums, galleries, studios, and other historical/cultural sites
- Earn 3-6 hours of Visual Art credit
Visual Art in Europe participants will focus on art-making, culture, and history through visits to museums, galleries, studios, and other historical/cultural sites in each city.
Program Dates:
Amsterdam and Utrecht, Netherlands (7 days)
The capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam rose as an important port city during the Dutch Golden Age, a period that produced many significant artists, such as Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer. It continues to be a vibrant city and a vital center for the arts as well as a city of canals, bicycles, tulips, and pancakes. Visits will include the world-famous Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, FOAM, (a photo museum), Anne Frank’s House, Rembrandtplein, and the Albert Cuyp Market. Two days in the quaint city of Utrecht are planned to see the Rietveld-Schroder House, visit the city museum, local market, Museum Speelklok (museum of mechanical music machines).
Berlin, Germany (7 days)
The events of the past have left their mark on the cityscape of Berlin; the city is currently one of the most dynamic cultural centers in the world and students will have the opportunity to experience both “old” and “new”, and “east” and “west” Berlin. We will visit the Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, and see the remnants of the Berlin Wall. Cultural activities will include visits to the museums on Museum Island (on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites), the Jewish Museum, the New National Gallery, the Holocaust Memorial, and Hamburger Bahnhof (a contemporary art museum). We will tour the Reichstag Building and the Bauhaus-Archives, and visit Potsdam to see Sansoucci, the former summer palace of Frederick the Great. The group may visit Dessau, home of the Bauhaus School and faculty residences from 1925 until 1932.
Venice, Italy (7 days)
We will have the opportunity to view contemporary art from around the world at the 57th Venice Biennale; in addition, we will visit the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, and the Pinault Collection at Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana. Other Venice sites on our itinerary will include the Piazza, Basilica, and Museum of San Marco, the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, and the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, and others. From Venice the group will make short trips to Murano (world renowned for its glass blowing studios), Burano (a fishing village famous for lace-making and its brightly colored houses), and Padova to see the Scrovegni Chapel (home to a cycle of frescoes by Giotto) and the Cathedral of St. Anthony where there are incredible relics, and much more.
Required before the trip will be several one-hour orientations and lectures along with appropriate research projects designed to enhance students’ understandings of sites visited. During the program, attendance at all lectures and planned events will be required. Some free time or optional participation will be offered in each city (day trips are mandatory).
Program Course:
ART 395/595 Study Abroad Topics in: Visual Art in Europe— 3 credit hours (Required)
Students may elect to take ART 395 /595 for additional 3 hours if additional work and projects are completed.
Participants will stay in centrally located hotels and hostels in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Berlin and Venice. Breakfast is included daily.
Open to undergraduate or graduate students from any accredited U.S. college or university. Minimum 2.5 GPA required (exceptions considered after submission of a petition).
Program Director
Luke Jordan is a Lecturer in the Department of Visual Art and a Specialist in Photography at the Spencer Museum of Art; he has taught at the University of Kansas for over twenty-five years years. His work and teaching has ranged from pinhole photography to the digital image; his interests include 19th century photography, contemporary art, soccer, and music. He is also the staff photographer for KU University Theatre and this will be his eleventh summer with the Study Abroad Program.
For more information, contact:
Luke Jordan, Visual Art Lecturer
Department of Visual Art
The University of Kansas
e-mail: lukej@ku.edu
