La dolce vita: exploring Italy by creating art

Fourteen students had an unforgettable two weeks this summer as they studied with Professor of Art and Art History David Chang in Italy, where they visited Rome, Naples, Florence and Venice, among other cities. The experience boosted their knowledge of centuries-old painting techniques and introduced them to people who left a lasting impression. Art education majors Carolina Quinonez and Olivia Pickering and master of fine arts student Liliette Ferro together wrote about their time overseas and highly recommend that students of any major set their sights on studying abroad.

We returned home from Italy different people than when we left, with a deeper understanding of what it means to be an artist. Walking the paths tread by some of history’s most remarkable painters and sculptors, breathing the air they once breathed and beholding the sights that stirred their souls, we found a profound connection to the essence of creativity and human spirit. The fast pace of society in Miami no longer clouding our minds, we had a chance to identify what we truly value as artists.

The trip reinforced some of what we already knew while yielding many new and unforgettable experiences. So much of what we have learned through our studies and art history books fell into place for us like the pieces of a puzzle. We gained fresh perspectives on how to create art, share it with others and be part of a creative community.

As artists, we underwent an almost-religious experience while viewing some of the most well-known masterpieces of the Renaissance such as Bernini’s “Abduction of Persephone,” Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus,” Caravaggio’s “Sacrifice of Isaac,” DaVinci’s “Last Supper” and more. Seeing these works firsthand allowed us to appreciate every nuance of texture (the look and feel of the surface as created by brushstrokes) and value (the lightness or darkness of a hue), which can never be captured online or in print. Directly examining the 500-year-old paintings also encouraged us to think more about the principles of design we have studied in drawing courses.

Trying our hand at new skills also proved exciting and worthwhile. A highlight was an eight-hour workshop in Genoa at the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti held for our group as part of a partnership with the Academy of Portrait and Figurative Arts at FIU. It was led by Professor Silvana Ghigino, and we learned from Italian students who instructed us in painting techniques not commonly taught in America: Trompe-l'œil, an optical illusion that tricks the viewer into perceiving objects or spaces as real; and fresco, a type of mural that involves applying watercolor directly onto wet plaster. We also each created a plaster cast after making a relief sculpture based on a sample piece provided for the class.

On another day, plein-air painting had us working outdoors with watercolors. The exercise taught us to be very intentional with our selection of composition. Choosing one’s subject – a tree, a lake, a building, a bridge, a meadow - from an expansive landscape full of possibilities is much more intimidating than painting a live model, for example, which poses fewer options.

On a social level, many of us connected with our Italian counterparts from the Accademia Ligustica based on our common experiences as art students. We joked around and got to know each other during a lunch break over pesto gnocchi. We found that we share many of the same struggles but that our cultures and environments could not be more different. One student, however, Miriam, expressed sentiments about her upbringing that resonated with us Miamians. Born in Italy of Egyptian parents, she spoke about life in a multicultural immigrant home, something her own classmates had little understanding of.  

We noted another important contrast with our host country as we walked over roads that have existed for a thousand years, surrounded by centuries-old buildings: Miami without a second thought tends to tear down anything remotely old to replace it with something modern, but in Italy, people show respect for what came before. Even in the city of Pompeii, destroyed in 79 A.D. when a nearby volcano erupted, preserving the ruins remains of utmost importance. Moving a single stone or taking a souvenir rock is strictly forbidden.

In the end, the human connections we made gave the members of our group a sense of community as well as drove home for each us our purpose as creative individuals. We departed Italy conscious of our power to shape culture simply by communicating in the most universal of languages: art.