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.
This week was spent in Sedona, AZ and although we have had great previous excursions while in Arizona, this one was by far our favorite.
After returning home from a week in Sonoita, we spent the week back home in Casa Grande. Monday was a normal day, with classes in the morning and studio time in the afternoon. On Tuesday, we spent the day in the Ironwood National Park, painting.
This week was our first 5 day trip away from our home, Casa Grande. On Monday the 25th we left for our adventure, loading up the van with our painting supplies, bags, crazy creeks, and Carnets (sketchbooks) in hand.
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!
Although we are not on the cobbled streets of Europe, we find immense beauty in the natural world of central Arizona.
Over the last decade, Proctor Academy's European Art Classroom program has provided hundreds of students the opportunity to immerse themselves in an art colony in the south of France. With COVID-19 shutting down international travel, program directors Dave and Jen Fleming reinvented the art immersion program stateside. Retaining the essence of the European Art Classroom experience (shared meals, plein air painting, art history and culture classes, art journals, sketchbooks, and living in community), the Southwest Art Classroom experience is underway in Arizona. Enjoy this brief update from Pheobe '21!
Life is unpredictable. If you told us that this spring we would not be in France teaching but instead writing this blog from our unheated shop, turned into quarantine home in western Washington State, it would be hard to believe. Our son and his wife live in the house and Jen and I are quarantining. We all have social distancing stories to share I'm sure - here's ours.
