Willkommen: Studying Art in Germany

Utah State University students are not limited to study on campus. They can take advantage of opportunities to combine travel and study, often learning multiple lessons thousands of miles away from Logan. 

 

Thanks to planning and organization by Utah State University Department of Art faculty member Christopher Terry, and in conjunction with the Study Abroad program, 14 art students experienced a completely new learning environment in Essen, Germany.

 

"I have been dreaming of Europe for a really long time," said Utah State student and program participant Laura Barnes. "Movies, books and pictures with European themes have always drawn me in, and I became absolutely determined to make it there someday. I considered many study abroad opportunities while at USU for the past three years, and the timing, destination and classes offered for the German program fit perfectly for me."

 

Terry put together a course of study that included drawing, painting, color theory/practice and the history of Bauhaus. The Essen area has exceptional resources for Bauhaus study and an abundance of museums.

 

"This trip seemed like an opportunity that was too good to pass up," said student Justin Wheatley. "Professor Terry is an amazing teacher, and the idea of spending a month studying art with him seemed very appealing."

 

One of the key elements of the trip was to immerse students in the culture, while taking advantage of resources not readily available on campus at Utah State.

 

"When we discuss color theory and practice in a classroom on campus, the examples come out of books," Terry said. "Reproductions in books are often flat, and the detail is hard to discern. But, when you can go into a museum and see 100 paintings by Joseph Albers — whose career was based on color theory and practice — that is more effective."

 

And that's what the students did.

 

From their home base in Essen, the students could easily travel to 10 or 15 larger cities that had important museums and art collections, Terry said. The city of Duesseldorf, for instance, has six world-class international museums.

 

"When we have a chance to see original works of art in person, not from illustrations in books, we understand what is going on much better," he said. "There is a deeper understanding of concepts, and that makes a trip like this very valuable."

 

"We were able to see so many incredible things," Wheatley said. "I felt like I was in a place rich with history and importance. I learned an incredible amount through museum visits. This is an experience that can't be synthesized in a classroom."

 

Learning went far beyond the classroom experience.

 

"I grew in ways that I didn't know I could," Barnes said. "I learned more about the world and myself through this study abroad opportunity than I could have learned in 10 years of traditional schooling."

 

Barnes noted that this was the first time she had the opportunity to travel outside the United States.

 

A typical day for the students during the five-week trip started at 9 a.m. with site work in drawing and painting. Architectural detail of the city was often a subject, as was the landscape. After lunch, the group hopped on a train and traveled to a museum before returning for the night to the Grend Guesthouse, located at the Grend Cultural Center.

 

Essen is the sixth largest city in Germany — larger than Duesseldorf — but not many people have heard of it, Terry said. He became acquainted with the city several years ago when he received a Fulbright Scholar Award for teaching and research at Universität Essen. It was once a very industrial city and region but is now a part of Germany that has been re-born.

           

"Essen is very much like the city of Pittsburgh, a city that has also seen a resurgence," Terry said. "The coal mining is gone and the industrial firms have reinvented themselves and now focus on high tech industries. The city is very clean, new and accessible."

 

Because of the city's previous industrial history, it is often overlooked by the camera-toting tourists eager to get a perfect shot, Wheatley said.

 

"This made it the perfect place to stay and study," he said. "Essen has an amazing museum with works by Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rodin and on and on. Because Essen isn't on the tourist must-see map, we practically had the entire museum to ourselves, and we spent a good amount of time there studying the techniques of these masters."

 

The area impressed the students who, when interviewed by the media in Essen, said they were intrigued by the many quaint corners and nooks of the city, especially along the banks of the Ruhr River. The area's architecture was also noted.

 

"The visitors were also delighted by the architecture: in addition to the Essen Cathedral, the Laurentius Church in Steele, the Steele cemetery and the Grend Cultural Center were all the subject of their drawing," the news story reported. "The judgment of the overseas guests of the city, the landscape and the people is without exception positive."

 

The students called Essen a "hidden jewel."

 

The area, and Germany, were a great place to study, Wheatley said.

 

"Germany is centrally located in Europe," he said. "It was home to some of the greatest draftsmen and women in the world, such as Albrecht Durer and Kathe Kollwitz. The Bauhaus school of design, which has in some way or another affected every single one of us, was in Germany. I felt like I was in a place rich with history and importance."

 

The entire group took side trips to Amsterdam and Berlin, although Barnes and a group of four other women put together an ambitious "after tour" to seven additional countries. The high point for her? Standing beneath the Eiffel Tower.

 

Amsterdam seemed like a non-stop party, Wheatley said, but the group also included visits to the Van Gogh Museum, Riech Museum and the Anne Frank House. Berlin, he said, was every educational.

 

The experience extended beyond the world of art to an expanded world view and culture for the students, Terry continued. A highlight of the trip for him was during the visit to Berlin, where the entire group was invited to dinner by a woman he met during his earlier stay in Essen.

 

"She had moved to Berlin and she invited the entire group to her apartment for dinner," Terry said. "She was living in an area that was pretty deep in the former East Berlin. It was interesting to see what was going on economically — how they were renovating the buildings and rebuilding the economy. She served a traditional German meal, and the students got to see how the people live."

 

Terry also noted that for the group of post-Cold War students, there was little personal context to relate to the changes from east to west in Germany.

 

For Wheatley, a high point came during the Berlin visit and a trip to the Jewish museum. And both students, Wheatley and Barnes, brought back culinary memories of the trip.

 

"Every morning I would get up and walk about 20 yards to the market where I would have intentions of getting breakfast, Wheatley said."Somehow I would always find myself on the chocolate aisle, surrounded by walls of chocolate that is so smooth it melts to the touch."

 

"The Germans have an absolute affinity for Bratwurst — there were four entire aisles at the grocery story devoted to Brats," Barnes said. "It's an acquired taste but I love 'em now."

 

 

Study Abroad through Utah State University is affordable. Students can study for a semester, academic year or summer at one of the exchange program sites, and prices are based on USU tuition. Students can study abroad at more than 130 universities in 44 countries. Study in English, or select programs to build and enrich language skills in French, German and Spanish. USU faculty-led summer programs provide study abroad experiences in Germany, France, Chile, Peru, England and more.

 

For more information, attend the Study Abroad Fair Tuesday, Sept 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the TSC International/Sunburst Lounge. Those attending can talk with program representatives and past participants. Interested students can also stop at the Study Abroad office in the Taggart Student Center, room 313, or call 797-0601. Information is also available on the Web site.   

 

Writer: Patrick Williams, 797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu

Contact: Christopher Terry, Art Department, 797-3409, ctterry@cc.usu.edu

               Kay Forsyth, Study Abroad, 797-1253, kay.forsyth@usu.edu