Study Abroad in London

I have always felt as though I could persevere though almost anything. Being through summer camps I was aware of the interpersonal relationships that would develop, but never had I thought that they would affect me this much. We had all been tossed into a sea of unfamiliarity, but I think that drew several of us together. We leaned on each other for support, guidance, and laughter.
I gained self-respect for not allowing the nuisances to become a bother at really important outings. I realize that the moment is all we have, and if some people want to ruin any of those moments their place is not in my moment. That it’s almost worse, for me, to sit by and allow these people to ruin what precious few moments we do have time after time. So I stood up for the moment, and how great it is. Like any self-respecting artist would have, maybe I’ll be one eventually.
I lost the dismal world view I had obtained from constant barrage of terrorist threats from the television set. Living without a television has been bliss. I haven’t even missed it, not that I live for television back home. There are so many interesting museums, pubs, and landmarks, a lifetime wouldn’t be long enough to learn all the history, and visit all of the sites.
I gained a huge appreciation for art’s beginnings. This trip made the experience much more important than just knowing. Having done, seen with my own two eyes, touched in some cases, and spoken with in others is ineffable. I had on an intellectual level, full of knowledge about each one of the artist’s lives, and why they did what when. That changed with the visit to the Tate Modern. So many of those artist’s lives I’d studied. We know so much about them that it got in the way of the experience from the classroom. There’s no way to discuss one’s experience, it just happens.
I gained the knowledge that I can leave the country. I can allow other cultures to exist without wanting to change them, but wanting to understand them.
I lost the narrow view that it’s the artist’s life that is more important than the art. The experience of interacting with the work itself is the most significant characteristic, to spend time with the work. When it’s the art that comes first and the artist’s life reacts accordingly.
Art was a personal expression of the unspeakable. It was something that could be a vocabulary for the mind rather than the mouth. That hasn’t been dismissed over this month, but rather it’s broadened. Accepting all that has happened throughout history of what art is has made me realize that it’s always been undeniably truth of reverence. Weather it’s the relationship of viewer to artist, or religious story telling, or memories before the invention of the camera. The search of some consistent truth seems to be at the core of all artists. Trying to discover what makes our surroundings, what reality really is, what a moment, a line, or a thought brings life to the world. What makes humanity alive? I thought art was something to be understood, learned, disseminated, and discussed. I’ve realized that art is none of those things. It’s meant to be experienced. Like human beings experience a moment in time. It’s not a philosophy, it’s not a text book, it’s not a history, it’s not religion. It’s the combination of all these things, which can only hope to guide us to the experience.
The exhibits I’ve seen over this month are nothing less than experiences. Captivating me from the moment I stepped foot in the door. I was aware of the personality of each artist. Their strokes on the canvas, tool marks on the stone, or hammer indents in the metal all left an impression of their personality. The Raphael room at the V and A overwhelmed me. Was that the art? Is it the work that’s left over, or the impression that is made? Lasting through the years because of the impact of the life of the artist seems to be pretty universal. Weather it’s Frieda or Van Gogh or Pollock the artist’s life seems to be just as important as the art that’s created.
This confuses me more than ever. It’s more than paint on a canvas, capturing that smile, or moment when the waves crash into the rock. It is the conversation between the artist and viewer. It is the moment of reflection. It is a record of history. It is a discussion of philosophy. It is a record of religion. It is whatever we want it to be. Art holds no boundary, it creates. The beautiful works engage, create, wonder, and move through out time.

From the time I arrived in London, there’ve been feelings of excitement, joy, wonder, intrigue, and these have pushed me through everyday. Extremely aware of the change this trip was going to have over my life, I entered with open arms. Although I was told this wasn’t going to be a vacation, or a summer camp experience. I didn’t realize how much work I was going to put in for a month. I could’ve visited, on my own, for two weeks and had an experience that wouldn’t have been as grueling. However, I wouldn’t have visited just about every museum in London. I say these things not out of contempt, but precaution to anyone reading this with the interest of attempting their own London Summer Study. It will be hard work, it’s not always going to be fun, and you’ll have to stick it out if you want to accomplish anything. Nothing worth doing is ever easy.
The thought of accomplishment is what has kept me through everyday; knowing I’m taking in the culture when I’m least aware of it, I’m learning about myself, and this is changing my perspective of the world. There have been students on this trip that didn’t want to change; they wanted the world to change for them. Thinking of the French as rude, or the English as snobbish were just among the few complaints I heard. I’ll admit is took a second to get used to no one wanting to make eye contact on the tube, or when walking down the street, but anytime I found a ‘reason’ to make conversation, such as the grocery store, I was overwhelmed with polite, interesting people.
With class 3 days a week, going on field trips for all of them and doing personal field trips on the four days off a week was a bit brutal for me. I didn’t realize how hard I was pushing my body walking sixteen hours a day. Having seen the Tate Modern, National Gallery, Courtald, Kenwood House, the British Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, and my personal favorite, the Victoria and Albert Museum has been the highlight of my experience. Not just rushed through them, but took in the variety of master works, Cassett, Cezanne, Courbet, Dali, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Pissaro, Picasso, Pollock, Monet, Manet, Rubens, Rembrant, Raphael, Rodin, Renoir, Rothko, Seurat, and Van Gogh just to name a few of my friends that I got to spend some time ‘chatting with’ on this trip.
I do have only one complaint, other than the students who would complain about something everyday throughout most of the trip, and that was the food. Being fed the food here was torture. The environment, however, in which we were placed, is a safe one, just outside of downtown London in a pretty side of town. There are flowers in just about every house, on the sidewalks, and through all the yards. The busses travel to London every 8-10 min from here, and the tube is within walking distance, which puts all of London within walking distance, and the train/tube/bus comes from both Heathrow, and Gatwick the airports of London. It’s very convenient to live in this Hampstead just north of downtown London, and very expensive, the apartments are all one-million pounds for a 2 bed, 1 bath.
I wanted to thank a few people who made this trip really worth while. First off, my parents without whom this wouldn’t have been possible. Maggie, the director, who has been a part of CCSA since forever, was the greatest help in any situation and always a pleasure. My professor, Ken Shipley, did a great job dealing with the huge variety of people that would attend every ‘field trip’, and all of their attitudes. A man I respect for his strength in guidance, pursuit of wisdom, method in teaching, and humor in everyday. Sam with whom I discussed books, art, politics, and didn’t know before this trip but will never forget.
Katie from KY, laughter is a necessary part of living thank you for making it happen everyday. Wait for that guy your worth it. To Holly from MS, your constant smile, positive outlook, and wise advice I couldn’t have done without. Miklos and Peter from Hungary, I know you learned from me, and I learned just as much from you. I enjoyed your thoughts and insight into the world, thank you. I am looking forward to your visit.
I was unaware of just how large the organization is until the other day I asked how many schools are involved. From my class alone we have 7 schools recognized:
Amelia Armstrong, and Mary Courtney Black from Mississippi State,
Cheryl Bak, Victoria Case, and Christi Cotham from Belmont,
Kim Balvere, Ben Schnurer, and Tina Urbi from Austin Peay,
Kristen Swartz (Austin Peay Alumni)
Sarah Hunt from University of Kentucky,
Rachel Jordan from Eastern Kentucky University,
Jennifer Parker from MTSU,
Rachel Lewis from Bellarmine University,
Amanda Perrigo and Bethany Sherer from Western Oregan University.
The directors are just as spread out with Maggie Monteverde from Belmont, Sam Faulkner from Moorehead, Ron Cella and Celia Wall from Murray State.
I will miss you all whether big or small. Your in my life forever more, I wish you all the best and that we will meet again soon.

Today we went to Windsor Castle. Which is really a small town built to receive international diplomats. It has its own cathedral, castle, and houses for the peasants that served there and for the ones who currently serve the church. It was spectacular. The view from the northern ledge was almost exactly the other side of London from Primrose/Parliament Hill. The garden outside was beautiful. Unfortunately, the queen was on vacation, so we couldn’t say “hi”.
One of the major ‘tourist spots’ was the queen’s doll house, which was used to drum up tourism during the Great Depression. Inside this 1/12 scale house, there is running hot and cold water, the cars, when filled with gasoline, will run, the sinks were mother of pearl, the wine bottles in the cellar had labels which all information was contained on along with the wine, everything from the smallest detail was contained in this doll house. It was a great example of English craftsmanship.
After the Doll House room was the drawing room. Inside their private collection of the great masterworks included Raphael, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci. To see the anatomical correct aspect of Michelangelo’s bodies, the pure modeling of Da Vinci’s faces, and the intense personality of Raphael’s eyes. Each artist had their focus, and throughout this trip I’ve felt as though I’ve gotten to know each one, and a few more, just a little bit.

Went to a contemporary gallery today which means none of the artists are dead. Also my professor, Ken Shipley, has a few pieces in one of the galleries here, so we saw those also. We saw a few of Ruthann Tudball’s work, one of Leach’s grandsons, and a few other artists. Afterward, I was going to go for a walk when I ran into Tina, from APSU, and Sara, from Louisville, KY. Neither had any specific plans, and I was going just to draw/sketch for a little while so we decided to travel to the Hampstead Heath, a very large park on our side of London with a hill which overlooks the city, Parliament Hill. Well, during the bus ride a rather old, poor, ratty looking man gets on the bus, and Sara begins to talk with him. After a moment he invites us to Primrose Hill, another gorgeous spot that also overlooks the entire city. Although I was a little hesitant I could tell that the man was very well educated, nice and I wanted to go to Primrose Hill before I left anyway. So we did. And we kept this eighty-something yr old man ‘John’ company for the rest of the evening, or should I say he kept us company. We talked about politics, philosophy, Marx, London’s history, ‘Black Adder’, Monty Python, and a variety of other extremely entertaining subjects. It was an evening of delight with a ‘Native’ of London.

Yesterday I went to the Science Museum, just to play with science. The major exhibits were all based around utilizing renewable resources, such as solar, wind, and water. Recycling was another major subject. Although based around a younger audience I enjoyed pulling the levers, flipping the switches, and typing in my answers on how to save the world from pollution, hunger, and inequality. All around Kristen and I were nothing but kids, and I mean small little 7-15 yr olds. I felt as if all the parents were giving me the evil eye, but I still had a blast. One exhibit took four people to pump enough water into a reserve that, once filled, spilled over a crank that powered a television and camera that clicked on displaying the ‘hard workers’ on the television. There was one whole floor dedicated to plastics, and hanging from the ceiling were hundreds of red strips of plastic that we had to walk through, it was quite an experience. None of the exhibits were visible until one had passed through the plastic barriers, which, if I was claustrophobic would’ve been very uncomfortable. It was a well deserved break from the constant ‘adult orientated’ museums of history passed; although I’m looking forward to another wonderful afternoon at the Tate Modern.