Grade 11 Arts Trip to New York 2008

By Olivia Lorton, IB Visual Arts Teacher

Last month, forty grade 11 grade IB Music, Theatre and Visual Arts students visited New York for five days and were immersed in the arts. They spent a packed five days visiting museums, galleries, performances, artists and participating in workshops. All students enjoyed the production of “Spring Awakenings” and the docent tour of the Museum of Modern Art, which focused on linking the art with the students’ specific art forms.

The Music students took a guided backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera House where the “secrets” of an opera production were revealed. The group visited the carpentry shop, the design offices, the costuming and casting areas as well as rehearsal spaces. Later in the week, the students attended a performance of Puccini’s masterwork opera, “La Boheme.” Music students also heard a concert by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, and took in a performance of “Stomp” at the Orpheum Theatre.

The Theater students went to see a fascinating play, “Osage County”, and attended two dynamic workshops, one on clowning and one on improvisation, which were run by two artists in New York. They also saw “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and visited the Theater Museum. The visual art students were overwhelmed by the all of the art work they saw in the Museum of Modern Art, the Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney American Arts gallery and the Metropolitan Art Gallery. Two of the highlights for the arts students were the docent tour of Cai Guo-Qiang retrospective at the Guggenheim, and their visit to meet artist Jason Rohlf in his studio and neighborhood in Brooklyn.

The theatre and art students had an amazing experience on their final evening watching “Fuerzabruta,” a truly physical performance engaging all the senses. Students become part of the piece by engaging in moving, watching, dancing, touching and, in the end, being soaked with water.

All students had a tremendous amount of inspiration over the five days to enhance their own art work back in the studio.