Over this past summer, a monumental and unforgettable trip was made to Greece. This trip encompassed many elements of art and culture to tie into the overall study abroad trip that many students and faculty attended in order to complete a variety of photography, ceramics, and sculpture projects. The main coordinators in this trip consisted of Tammy Marinuzzi and Pavel Amromin, but I had the pleasure of talking to and interviewing professor Caleb Jordan and his fiance, Sarah.

When I attended this event, I was amazed at all of the beautiful photographs, sculptures, and visuals the students and teachers had made. This event was intended to showcase all of their hard work and dedication put into these art pieces and to give the attendees a glimpse of what it was like in Greece. Each piece of work has a story behind it and is unique in its own way. When interviewing professor Caleb and Sarah, they described to me the meaning behind the trip and why it was so special. The biggest take away I learned was how significant the cultural and historical areas impacted their art pieces and educational principles as they traveled through Greece for about a month. The main area they stayed was in Skopelos and this was where everyone went to class 5 days a week from 9am-4pm to work on their projects, split between ceramics and photography.
Fortunately, there was an art school there that the students and professors were able to share with the current art students reading in Greece. Some challenges they faced when on this study abroad trip occurred with the time needed for projects. Because ceramics need so much hands-on time, it was difficult trying to fit photography in as well. And sometimes, as Sarah mentioned, she would take some photographs and think they came out well, but once she went to look back, realized some were blurry and unusable. Also on the photography aspect, professor Caleb mentioned a struggle he and some students faced. After taking all the shots, he attempted to print them out but because they were in an area with not as advanced technology as we’re used to, the photos got messed up and his whole piece never made it out. Making him have to go back and start from scratch. Continuing onto the significance of each piece, because of the variety of art in the display, it was difficult to choose just one piece that was a favorite of mine. Out of ceramics and photography, though, I would say the ceramics projects appealed to me the most because of all of the dedication and craftsmanship each student poured into the projects.
 
When asked this question, professor Caleb’s favorite pieces he created were the photographs of nature and bugs. He described everything in Greece being covered with nature, vines, leaves and bugs and that it was seemingly important to him that he capture the nature aspect of Greece. Since every piece has a special meaning behind it, Sarah said that there is love for each piece because of individual reasons. Overall, this event interested me and appealed to my love for Greece because I, as well, traveled over there this summer and was able to relate to so many of the cultural and historical monuments and sites our students visited.
 
All resources and information gathered was from the exhibit or Caleb Jordan and his fiance, Sarah.

Kamryn Sears

Student Writer - Fall 2024