Each year during senior seminar in October the senior art majors travel to New York. The students, together with several faculty members from the art department, as well as other scholars, artists and guests spend the week visiting museums and galleries showing contemporary art. The itinerary includes not only large group visits to major museums, but also opportunities to visit artists' studios, galleries and other places of interest in small groups.

There is also time for students to pursue their own interests. The experience of seeing works of art together at first hand complements our on-campus courses. The art we study together often becomes the subject of art history students' senior theses as well as a source of stimulation and inspiration for art studio projects. It also offers our students a common experience of art to discuss throughout the year that ties in with our program of speakers and visiting artists. In addition meetings with alumni with careers in the arts gives students insights about graduate work and careers. Several endowed funds pay students' travel expenses and provide financial aid.

The annual Colorado College Art Department trip to New York takes place in October every year. Professors of Art History and Art Studio lead the trip.

SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENT SENIOR TRIP TO NEW YORK

BRING CC STUDENT ID AND LEGAL PICTURE ID

All students should be aware that although the Art Department is sponsoring this trip, we will not be providing direct supervision. However, if any student needs advice or assistance while in New York, we will be happy to make ourselves available.

Admission charges for all group visits are paid by the Art Department.

Please note that all activities are required (unless otherwise indicated). Students are expected to arrive on time. We will not be able to wait for late arrivals. If you fail to show up for an activity you signed up for, you will be considered absent. You will be severely penalized for repeated failure to attend required activities, to the point of being sent home.

NEW YORK TRIP BACKGROUND

The Art Department requires all senior majors to undertake substantive independent work, which results in a thesis in art history or an exhibition of their work in art studio. This year-long capstone experience is intended to test a student's ability to work independently over an extended period of time on a subject that they have identified as having personal significance. The annual trip to New York for senior art majors is an integral part of the capstone experience.

In 1985-86 the Getty Trust made an extraordinary gift to the Colorado College Art Department in honor of Harold E. Berg, CC class of 1936. As a response to this gift, the department developed one of the most unusual undergraduate research opportunities in the country, an intense experience of visits to museums, galleries and artists' spaces in New York for senior majors together with art faculty and staff. The New York trip has taken place every year since 1986, and the Berg Endowment continues to underwrite the annual event. Hence, the department expects all participants in the New York trip to see themselves as stewards of the Berg Endowment and invested participants in this larger historic legacy.

The Art Department at Colorado College is a joint art history/art studio department both in name and spirit. We believe that neither of the two branches of our discipline can be meaningfully studied without the other. While this commitment is articulated in a variety of ways through the seminar year, it is most decidedly expressed in the design and substance of the New York Trip. This joint endeavor is an organized research trip designed to study original works of art and support thesis work. As such, your participation and engagement with the trip will be evaluated and incorporated into your senior seminar grade.

THE JOURNAL/SKETCHBOOK ASSIGNMENT

Journals due date to be assigned. Please turn in to Guyda in the Art Department Office

You are expected to keep a visual and textual journal that tracks your experience during this trip. It is a place to gather images, quotations, writings, sketches, and other substantive materials that work together to record your thoughts and impressions. Above all, it is a place for you to critically reflect upon what you encounter.

The journal will consist of:

• Your own observations in words and/or images, which should comprise the bulk of the journal
• Your specific responses in words and/or images to the required activities each day. There is no set form for these responses-they may take the form of essays, annotated sketches, collages, etc.
• An account of your independent project

The New York trip is an opportunity to hone your visual skills and verbal tools for responding to works of art. We encourage you to engage in careful and thoughtful close looking and to incorporate your responses into your journal. Art History and Studio students can benefit from looking at artworks together and exchanging points of view.

During the Block 3 Art Department Tea, we will share journals and sketchbooks from the New York Trip.

GENERAL INFORMATION

HEADQUARTERS

The Pod Hotel, 230 E. 51st St. (212) 355-0300

EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS

Colorado College Switchboard (719) 389-6000

For faculty cell phone numbers consult your printed itinerary