Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - May/June 2014 - (Page 22)

G by rachel troy ROWING UP IN ThE SUBURBS Of NEW YORk CITY, I looked forward to school field trips to the city's museums every year. I remember staring wide-eyed at Vincent van Gogh self-portraits, the expressive blues recalling a lapping ocean. The doll-like lion of henri Rousseau's Sleeping Gypsy, on the other hand, reminded me of my favorite Disney movie, and the colors of the sleeping woman's dress recalled the biblical story of Joseph's many-colored coat that I had learned in religious school. Across Time Transported by the World in a tulip My formal education in art began not in an art class, but in my 10th-grade European history class. In the beginning of the year, my teacher lectured on the Dutch Republic. As we studied Dutch culture, she presented slide after slide of tulip paintings from the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. Not only were the paintings beautiful, but they were history lessons in themselves, telling the story of the Tulip Mania that followed the flower's introduction to the Netherlands in the 1600s. Tulip Mania led to a profusion of tulip images, but their historical significance extended even beyond the subject matter. Many were not paintings but prints, a more affordable and increasingly common alternative made possible by technological innovation. Some works featured tulips in still-life paintings, a popular genre in the Dutch Republic. Unlike their European peers, who painted biblical subjects, many Dutch artists painted still-lifes and landscapes instead. These tulip images were vivid proof that every aspect of a work of art-subject, composition, media, style-has a cultural context. I was enthralled. As my history class moved on to new revolutions and wars, I began exploring art history on my own. On the bottom floor of my local library was a café that sold discounted books. A book I bought there, on the history of the color red in art, was the first art history book I read. And then the ziggurat of books on my bedside tables began to rise, biographies of 22 imagine Caravaggio and histories of Pop Art stacking on top of mystery novels and Jane Austen romances. I was enjoying these independent studies, but I also started craving a more formal approach that might help me piece together the patches of knowledge I had gleaned from my readings. Searching online for a summer course, I found a variety of art history courses offered at different colleges, museums, and galleries. I ultimately decided to take a six-week course at Boston University, where high school students could take university-level classes. I was considering Boston for college, so this would provide a chance to explore the city while taking an academically rigorous course. I chose Introduction to Western Art: Renaissance to Today. Art, Alive The first Tuesday the class was set to meet, I went to the designated building-the College of Arts and Sciences-and found the classroom twice to ensure I wouldn't be late. I arrived at the classroom for the third time half an hour early and waited for my professor to arrive. I was nervous. I prided myself on being an excellent student, but how would I fare in a college course? My anxiety quickly subsided. The atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed. My professor, Rachel Tolano, would lecture and then open the room to guided discussion. Although I was initially hesitant to participate, I found may/Jun 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - May/June 2014

Big Picture
In My Own Words
Imagine, Design, Build
A Schematic of the Possible
My Life as an Architect
Blueprint for the Future
DesertSol: A Model of Sustainability
Across Space and Time
The Art of Summer
Selected Opportunities & Resources
A Digital Canvas
Rising to the Technovation Challenge
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Creative Minds Imagine
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - May/June 2014