Travel as a Creative Path Catalyst
"I draw inspiration from the surprises and discomfort that unfamiliar environments present."
Reflections on my travel this past fall to Karlsruhe, Germany as part of the Department of Art’s exchange program with the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts. While this wasn’t my first time visiting Europe, it reminded me of how powerful traveling can be in altering your perspective and course. When I was an art student at the Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts (PAFA) at the age of 24, I was fortunate to receive a prestigious traveling fellowship that allowed me to travel out of the United States for the first time. The PAFA fellowship provided independent travel over two months during the summer to visit Rome, Florence, Madrid, Barcelona, Athens London, Paris, and Morocco. This initial travel experience as an art student was extremely important and inspirational. In many ways, it catalyzed my creative path as an artist.
In looking back to my travel experiences I believe they have always been beneficial in one way or another to my studio practice as an artist. Travel forces me (in a constructive way) out of my artistic comfort zone. Yet, at the same time, I draw inspiration from the surprises and discomfort that unfamiliar environments present. There is something wonderfully invigorating about seeing new things and encountering new people. In my opinion, this type of exposure has contributed to me being more flexible in the way I look and think about my work as an artist and my interactions with students.
When confronted with unfamiliar languages, different social patterns, and cultural norms it causes me to be less self-centered. Therefore, travel continues to encourage new ways of seeing myself in the world and expands the context for making art.
What I gleaned from my three-week visit and interactions with students at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Art, is the system of art education and training is fundamentally different from our institutional structure here at the University of Minnesota. By comparison, I was surprised by the looseness of the German system. The students at the Karlsruhe Academy were self-directed with less regular contact with their professors. Students worked independently and seemed to take responsibility for their success and failure. I could see how this approach works for some students but not for others who lacked confidence or were less resilient.
All of my studio visits with the students were engaging, illuminating, and insightful despite the occasional language awkwardness at times. The group of students I visited with were diverse, I met with students who were from Poland, China, Spain, Taiwan; however, as expected, the majority were from Germany.
All and all, I departed Germany a bit exhausted but thoroughly enriched by the experience.
I look forward to students and arts educators having the opportunity to be inspired by travel again.
