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THE GEORGETOWNER NEWSPAPER JANUARY 2010 Art ADVENTURES abroad
By Garrett Faulkner January 2010
At five and a half acres, penned in by an inexorable steel fence 12 feet high, it’s hard to miss the Embassy of Italy. Set into a gentle slope just off Massachusetts Avenue, the complex is a fixture on Embassy Row, and they want you to know it. Outsiders are vetted through a rigorous screening process before being shepherded from the gatehouse to the front entrance. There’s pomp, there’s circumstance, there’s probably the most discerning look at your driver’s license you’re ever likely to get.
But after that, you’re awash in Italy, the culture, the art, the sonorous lilt of an old, old Romance language. Green marble columns spiral up to the cupolaed glass-panel ceiling, a sort of Pantheon-meets-21st-century architectural stew. Sleek leather couches, flown in from Milan, dot the curved walls encircling the lobby, so broad and naturally lit it’s probably better called a piazza. Tucked away, a café-cum-cucina bustles with activity, milling out pasta and slicing charcuterie. The building is at once modern élan and staunch tradition, two and a half thousand years of history woven into glass and stone.
And in a back hall gallery, in what amounts to a little over 50 square feet of exhibition space, there are other, smaller distillations of Italy. An old woman walking alone by a pond in wispy charcoal sketching. Opposite that, soft watercolor tones, suffuse and lifelike, form a panorama of the Appenines. Between paintings hangs the odd poem or two, calligraphied and framed. It’s a visiting exhibit, a collection of works so vivid you know whoever made them had to have been there. But they aren’t on loan from a European gallery, nor, even, do their authors require a visa to come see them.
In fact, their creators hail largely from right here in Washington, and for most of them, art is somewhat of a peripheral project. But such is the beauty of Cultural Study Abroad, a non-profit whose mission is to give a small group of part-time creative types the chance to go ex-pat and let the easygoingness and rustic aesthetic of Europe inspire them. For Angela Iovino, who runs the program — and paints a little on the side herself — the 10-day trips abroad offer a unique opportunity to make new friends, unwind and develop as an artist.
“As I became more involved in art myself and got tired of painting alone in villas across Europe, I reestablished CSA primarily for artists and photographers,” she says. A retired professor of Italian history and literature who taught at Georgetown and George Washington universities, Iovino revived the program, originally founded in 1997, a few years ago. One of the inaugural trips placed her travelers on a halcyon little island called Ischia.
If you just pulled a map out, that’s good (hint: look near Naples). Iovino aims for trip sites a little off the beaten path — and sometimes off the mainland — which she says makes for a more idyllic setting removed from the tourist rush and, more important, allows for deeper introspection and inspiration. Unexpected scenery also offers the chance for a fresh experience, which some trip veterans say changed their whole perspective. Angelika Wamsler, who attended a trip to Tuscany last June, says the setting altered her entire direction as an artist.
“The town where we stayed was different from what I expected, it was not part of the typical Tuscany landscape you see in postcards. It was in the middle of green, green hills. By being close to that landscape, I actually realized that landscape painting isn’t what I’m into. By discovering what you don’t like, you get close to what you do like.” Wamsler says she now prefers abstract painting, still inspired, of course, by what she has seen overseas.
“Going on a study abroad trip is good for an artist,” says Jennifer Galanis, a scientist by profession who attended the Ischia trip, also last June. “You’re pulled from your normal everyday environment and taken out of your routine. There are no other activities to run home to, no previous engagements or usual distractions — that in and of itself is enough to mentally waken you.” Galanis was so impressed with the volatility and looming presence of Vesuvius she incorporated it into her Byzantine-tinged mosaic art.
And while the act of creation is itself rewarding, many found that sopping up the experience was just as much fun. Study groups often include a handful of friends simply there to sightsee and have a good time. Some enduring friendships are formed on the trip itself.
Barb Williams, a retired public health officer, started reading “Inferno” each night with two other excursionists. The rest of the group called the trio The Dante Club, who bonded so cohesively they are now planning a return trip of their own.
However CSA travelers choose to spend their vacations, they are in good hands. Extremely popular among them is Steve Cushner, who acts as lead artist on CSA trips, when he’s not teaching his craft at the District’s own Corcoran School of Art. He’s well known within Washington’s art community, and many CSA adventurers, Iovino herself included, took his art classes before ever setting foot on an airplane to the Old World. While abroad, Cushner likes this mix of old and new students.
“Each trip is different, the group of students is different from trip to trip,” he says. “That’s kind of the excitement of it, it’s a new experience for everybody. It takes a couple days to figure out everyone’s personality, figure out the place.” Since the company handles daily logistics and itineraries for its travelers, Cushner is free to offer advice and help others find their muse.
That said, he’s more than simply a lecturer. Galanis says Cushner is known for his open dialogue with students and willingness to let them explore their own styles. Barb Williams appreciates this laid-back approach.
“Steve is just fabulous,” she says. “I consider him to be a master teacher. He is very perceptive, a very good artist himself. His personal style is such he can work with a wide variety of abilities and personalities.”
Cushner presided over the Ischia and Tuscany trips, and will do so again on CSA’s planned trip to Ragusa, Sicily in June. Later that month, Iovino will lead a four-day tour through Rome, which focuses on the historical role of the city’s Jewish population.
The company is planning several other trips this year too, some with a visual art focus, others concentrating on literary history. Lillian Bisson, who teaches English at Marymount University, will lead reading buffs in September through Bath and rural England, following the trail of Jane Austen and touring the manors and countryside that influenced her novels. In March, eminent photographer Chan Chao will lead students through Paris to help them snap that perfect shot of the City that Never Sleeps. Other trips are planned for Spain, Shanghai (in 2012) and, for those in love with fall colors, Gettysburg, PA in autumn.
Depending on what you find inspiring, chances are there’s a trip for you.
“My outlook is, you would take a trip like this to do something you wouldn’t do in your own studio,” Cushner says. “I took a trip like this and it took me a while to let go of what I was doing and embrace what else was possible.”
All-inclusive prices for Cultural Study Abroad trips start at $2200 (Paris), $2300 (Sicily), $2250 (Rome), $2350 (Segovia, Spain) and $2350 (England). Rates are generally lower for leisure travelers not participating in the art seminars. For a full breakdown of prices, trip dates and more information, visit www.culturalstudyabroad.com or contact Angela Iovino at 202-669-1562. |
