To break things up a bit, this is a group blog, and being visual artists, we'll let the images, and drawing, for the most part, speak for themselves. The vast majority of photos are taken by Thomas.

European Art Classroom teaches each student how to be an avid traveler, as we are constantly immersing ourselves in various cities that hold new cultures, languages, and cuisine. As Florence, Italy was the third and final weeklong trip, each of us had the routine down to a tee.

Growing up in rural New Hampshire, with occasional trips to Boston being my only true city experience, I was certainly not the most equipped of our group to take on Paris. 

The more time I spend on European Art Classroom, the happier I am that I decided to apply. As the group gets used to routine, we slowly move forward from the 'honeymoon phase' when we first got here.

And so we’ve come to our final week in the oh so wonderful pan flat, burning Hellscape of Casa Grande, AZ, and our final week of high school classes. There could have been no more perfect way to finish it off, everyone scrambling to complete a final project before leaving for Santa Fe on Sunday.

We’re sitting across the kitchen island sketching each other’s portraits. It's 1:37 a.m. This is the first time I've had my portrait drawn. I’ve had a lot of firsts this past week.

As I reflect on this week I instead reflect on the whole experience here in Arizona. This past week in our town Casa Grande, has been chock-full of lasts. When we returned home from Sedona awhile back, it hit all of us that soon we would be leaving our sweet home.

European/Southwest Art Classroom continues to immerse themselves in both the practical and theoretical study of art as they live and learn in the American Southwest this winter. Eight students, two faculty, a van, easels, and paint exploring the countryside, the urban landscapes, and investing their whole selves into this once in a lifetime experience of living in community. Read more from Euro/Southwest Classroom below!