This semester we hope to become fluent in Italian, collaborate with fellow students of cross-disciplines, push our limits, be put out our comfort zones, choreograph, devise, learn instruments, eat a lot of good food and never feel bad about it, immerse ourselves in the Italian culture, see as much of Italy as possible, find our niche within our student body, try new, unfamiliar crafts at the open mic nights, learn how to french braid our own hair, get lost in foreign lands and find our way again, make mistakes and learn from them, make new concoctions at breakfast each morning, take every opportunity that’s given and also seek out our own, make connections between our studio classes to inspire our future ambitions and creative processes, go to art museums, kiss italian men/women (with class), make new lifelong friends, share what we learn with our communities in the states, inspire others to study abroad, survive week three, be unafraid of failure, learn the value of our own safety, while also taking risks.

When we see ourselves at the end of the semester we see slightly tanner versions of our bodies sun-kissed by the delicious Tuscan sole. Also, we would like to be stronger, more confident artists with a slightly more pronounced road map of our endeavors ahead, retain new movement dialogue in our muscle memory, obtain the renowned Arezzo booty (formed by walking up and down our mountain between our villa and Arezzo), become more educated wine consumers, be more empathetic creatures, and retain more european style.

The Accademia dell’Arte offers open opportunities for discussion between students and teachers with open hearts and minds ready to serve our desire to achieve our goals. It is undoubtedly the best place to stretch our definitions of what we have already learned about art and our own aesthetic and constantly reinvent them. We feel safe enough to dive head first into our work without being judged or critiqued in a non-useful way. The combination of multiple different modes of expression will offer us many ways to communicate our ideals and stories. Also learning about past philosophies of art is an incredible tool for us to create our own truths and opinions of what we want our art to convey.

– Maria DeCotis, Olivia Perry, Lauren French and Jenna Bilgore