On April 4, 20 Asburians traveled to Chicago for ART 396, a Contemporary Art Seminar course that provides the opportunity to venture into the city and interact with art and culture firsthand. Professor Josh Smith, Professor Keith Barker and Dr. Linda Stratford drove the 17 students up to Illinois on Thursday, April 4, where they stayed in the 21c Museum Hotel.
With only two scheduled museum visits–one to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art–the students were free to explore the art and culture of the city. In their free time, students visited an improv show, a Cubs game, museums and various restaurants, as well as many other things around the city.
Though typically taken by juniors, the course has several sophomores and seniors enrolled. The range of ages and grades opened new opportunities for intellectual and artistic growth, providing the class with a new lens as they explored the city either together in groups or individually.
Isabella Forrest, a sophomore Art History and Sociology double major, recounted her experience as one of engagement. The small group that she was in went to bookstores and coffee shops, after the visits to the Art Institute and the MCA, and took a water taxi down the Chicago River into Chinatown. Though some of their experiences could be regarded more as tourist activities, she acknowledged that the food they ate at, the stores they shopped in and the areas they explored gave a new depth to the contemporary art they studied.
“My favorite thing I saw was the Nicole Eisenmen exhibition titled ‘What Happened,’ an exhibition that showcases a retrospective of her career, culminating work from the beginning of her career in the early 1990s,” Forrest said about the MCA. “The only thing I wish was able to see but couldn’t was the Bean, which was closed.”
Others on the trip took a bit of a more relaxed approach to the weekend trip, like Eden Wilson. As a photographer, the city gave her new opportunities for photographs.
“I did a lot of walking around,” Wilson explained. “I mostly just walked around, took pictures, observed the people and sights around me, sat on some benches and just took in the atmosphere.”
One of the main goals of the trip was to engage and create a deeper understanding of contemporary art, which is often misunderstood. Many of the students said that they drew a lot from the art they saw and how that interacted with the way they viewed the city. Those two factors leaned on each other, creating a mutuality of appreciation and depth that derives from the other.
“Overall, the trip gave me a great look at modern art and a chance to see the city and culture of Chicago,” Forrest said. “It was a great opportunity to better understand what modern art is, and gain a better appreciation for those who make it and the ideas that are presented in contemporary art spaces.”
The course will be offered again next year, giving future Art and Design majors, among those who also need to take the class, the chance to create deeper connections between the content learned and a city rich with culture like Chicago.
Featured image by Eden Wilson.