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Art major Rachel Pidcock ’09 (Allentown, Pa.) spent two weeks in Spain where she and four of her fellow junior art majors studied Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Spanish art and architecture as part of the Rothkopf Scholars Program.
The greatest gift that the experience of seeing art in context can provide is an altered perception of the world. Art subtly adjusts the way we see because it distinctly dictates the way we later look at our own reality. Studying art and art history has provided me with an endless amount of changing perceptions, and I found myself in the fortunate position of accompanying four other students to Spain as a Rothkopf Scholar this past May to study Spanish art.
I knew little of Spanish art before embarking on the 12-day tour of Spain, led by Professors Lynette Bosch and Charles Burroughs. We flew from Barcelona to Santiago de Compostela to Barcelona to Granada to Madrid, finally spending one day in Toledo before returning to Madrid for the flight home. We visited sites such as the Prado Museum, the Sagrada Familia, and the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral.
Through the course of the trip we began to see a steady progression of Spain’s art history, from ancient to modern times. I was equally fascinated by the Islamic history of the 14th palace of the Alhambra as I was by paintings by the 20th century Spanish Impressionist Joaquin Sorolla. We saw modern art as well, including works such as Guernica by Pablo Picasso and the Barcelona Pavilion designed by Mies van der Rohe.
The Rothkopf trip was a fulfilling experience because it provided us with the opportunity to see works in person. I was able to combine new knowledge with old, drawing upon what I had learned in my art and art history classes at Lafayette as I listened to Professor Burroughs speak in front of works such as Velazquez’s Las Meninas and Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights.
While walking down the streets of each city, we were also able to experience Spain as a country. Whether witnessing a man running with one arm rotating fast along the streets of Granada, or the old singer shouting an out of key “YAH YAH YAH” in Barcelona, the culture became a part of us. By the end of the trip we knew how to order “tortilla Espanola” and felt comfortable sitting in the Four Cats drinking cafe solo.
The Rothkopf trip of 2008 was a fantastic and memorable experience for me. I could not have asked for better companionship or a better intellectual experience in the subject I love most. I have returned from the trip with a renewed interest in the study of art and art history and I look forward to embarking upon a thesis in art this coming fall.
The Rothkopf Scholars Program is a strong example of Lafayette’s goals in its new strategic plan to provide students with more educational experiences focusing on the creative arts and globalization. Lafayette is taking steps to strengthen its core instructional programs in art, music, theater, creative writing, and film and media studies. The College also plans to expand the geographical and cultural scope of its global offerings by enhancing study abroad opportunities, possibly creating a Center for Global Studies, and expanding the number of languages available for study.
Pidcock has also taken advantage of Lafayette’s focus on undergraduate research and close student-faculty interaction by assisting Ed Kerns, Eugene H. Clapp II ’36 Professor of Art, with works for the exhibit “Word, Mind, City: A Universal Resonance” as an EXCEL scholar.