Art History Field Trip

10/25/08
Today, we went on a field trip for our Art History class. When we arrived at the Archaeology Department at 8:30a.m., we had no idea where we were going, how long we would be gone, what we would be learning, etc. Needless to say, we didn't need to know, because little did we know--it would actually turn out to be quite fun.

Our first stop was at this cute house-like museum called the "Artists' Alliance". The Artists' Alliance was set perfectly against the beach, and through its windows you could see the tranquility of the waves crashing against the rocks. I couldn't think of a more inspiring place to place the building.

Here are a few tidbits from what I learned at the Artists' Alliance:
--Naive/amateur artists don't use the rules they have learned to apply to their canvases.
--A man's perception of or about what he is doing will undoubtedly affect the result of his or her work (art)
--"I do it (art) with some SOUL in me" (a quote from the artist guest speaker)
--Cultures change...which affects are over time...they improve on degradation
--Contemporary art came through the vehicle of formal education
--Contemporary education often teaches students to see and draw objects as they are
--The BEAUTY of Kente cloth (a popular Ghanaian art/textile) is that someone is wearing your art.
--There is ORDER is disORDER (think about markets, villages, etc.)
--"And I hope that by that (by producing a piece of artwork that speaks to someone else), that I have touched somebody."
--Everyone has creativity, just in different ways and to different degrees---we all direct creativity at different things.

I have included photos from some of my favorite pieces from the Artists' Alliance, above. After visiting the Artists' Alliance, which I felt we didn't spend nearly enough time at, we went to the National Museum (of Art) in Accra.

It was definitely an inspiring day, fueling my appetite to be artsy!