Student photographs to be showcased at Artbeat
WAYNESBURG – There’s a slice of Italy captured in more than 40 photographs now on display at Artbeat in Waynesburg.
Art and art history students at Waynesburg University who went abroad earlier this spring – many for the first time – experienced the ancient roots of art and Western culture and will act as “tour guides” for the “Tour of Italy” show from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the gallery. Students will share what they learned from their 10-day adventure in May.
“This was their service learning project,” Waynesburg University art professor Andrew Heisey said. “We decided to bring Italy home to Greene County and put on an art show. We wanted to do something for the whole community.”
Instead of postcard shots, the trip became a quest for the nooks and crannies of the historic cities and ancient ruins the tour guides took them to visit.
Students and faculty explored the hidden corners of Rome, Florence, Pompeii, the island of Capri and even a side trip to Pisa, where everything on the old church property leaned, not just the famous bell tower.
But it wasn’t the tower they were after, it was the ornate old stones strewn by the ages in the cemetery next door that was captured and brought home.
“We learned that the tower now only leans as much as it did a few centuries ago. Back in the 1990s, they weighted one side with lead and dug under the foundation and put in a footer,” Heisey said. “On most tours, people get enough history after a few days and want to start shopping, but our kids were so hungry to learn the tour guides were impressed.
“They took us to more places and told more stories. Even in the rain it was so much fun.”
The deep blues of the Mediterranean’s sea and sky make a vibrant backdrop for the weathered sculptures, buildings, gardens and rocky edges of the Italian landscape in many of the photographs on display.
Close-ups of doors, luscious pastries, giant citrons, snatches of graffiti are all part of the gallery show.
Friday’s exhibit is a chance to meet the 11 students and the faculty who participated in the trip to get the backstory behind their photographs, chosen from the more than 2,000 that were taken during the excursion.
The show is free to the public and light refreshments will be served. Many of the matted prints will be for sale.