Dear Studio Art Professors,
As a group of students of Curating Museums and Galleries course held by Prof. Ilaria Gianni we are interested in curating part of the show of John Cabot University Studio Art department students at the end of the Spring 2012 term. As art history majors we would like to apply the knowledge we have gained during our education through the process of examination, selection, and displaying students' works for the creation of a coherent showcase.
Beginning in the late sixteenth century, it became fashionable for young aristocrats to visit Europe and above all Rome, as the culmination of their classical education. Thus the idea of the Grand Tour was born, a practice which introduced Englishmen, Germans, Scandinavians, and also Americans to the art and culture of France and Italy for the next 300 years. It was argued, and widely accepted, that knowledge comes entirely from the external senses. Thus, one could "use up" the environment, taking from it all it offers, requiring a change of place. Travel, therefore, was necessary for one to develop the mind and expand knowledge of the world.
JCU community presents today the unique combination of international students, coming to Rome to have their own 21st century Grand Tour. They see this fascinating city from different, sometimes absolutely unexpected points of view and, immersing themselves in cultural and intellectual environment of Rome, Italy, and Europe as a whole, absorb it and transmit it through their existing knowledge and experience. The idea of the exhibition, therefore, is to see how the vision of Rome has changed from the time of the first Grand Tour through students' art works and its correspondence with art works of their forerunners from the seventeen century. We believe it may be a good opportunity to explore the creative side of our JCU fellows and reveal their fresh look at the city of Rome.
Our main area of interest lies in photography, since it presents a wider range of works to choose from and suits the exhibition space provided. We are also interested in showing a selection of sketchbooks' pages in order to illustrate the artistic journey and find parallels of the city's representation through different media. As a bridge between different time periods we would like to create a slide-show, visually connecting works from seventeen century with today's view.
We understand that JCU students are not professional artists, and it may be an exciting opportunity to witness their artistic development from random touristic photos to insightful examination of the city.
We are looking forward to work alongside with Studio Art department on this project and believe that it will help to create interactive cultural community at JCU and benefit its current and future students.
Kind regards,
Maria Plateo
Anna Prosvetova
Jessica Sternbach
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