If you had three months to study art, absorb beauty, and eat well, what could you accomplish? Experience the Aegean Center and discover the joy of real education.
Founded in 1966, the Aegean Center offers two programs each year, the Fall Session and the Spring Session. Students develop their artmaking while simultaneously experiencing Ancient Greece, the Italian Renaissance and contemporary Mediterranean life and light.
At the Aegean Center we believe that acquiring technique is a necessary beginning to creating meaningful work, for without vocabulary the artist is mute. Our mission is to provide this underpinning of craft and to stimulate the imagination and wonder of our students. Towards this end we keep our class sizes small and accept a maximum of 25 students a semester. Students work closely with our instructors, who are all practising artists and highly trained in their respective disciplines.
The Spring Session takes place at our permanent facility on the Greek island of Paros. The white-washed houses, the wine-dark sea, the wholesome, island-grown produce. On Paros, life assumes a different pace, with ample opportunity for self-reflection. And, of course, the classical world, with its timeless ideals of truth and beauty, is never far. Immersed in this environment, our students often experience a profound shift in perspective, and their own personal relationship to the arts is strengthened.
The Fall Session takes place in both Greece and Italy. It begins with a memorable four weeks in the Tuscan region of Italy. Our home base is the lovely 16th century Villa Rospigliosi just outside the medieval city of Pistoia. At the villa, all students participate in daily art history lectures which are enriched by guided visits to museums and historical sites in Pistoia, Florence, Pisa and Siena. There are also extended, three-day excursions to both Venice and Rome. From Rome, students leave for Athens for inspiring visits to the Parthenon, the Acropolis Museum, and the Archaeoligical Museum of Athens. The group then departs for Paros, where studio classes continue.
Students select from a variety of courses including:
-Painting
-Basic Drawing
-Figure Drawing
-Printmaking
-Bookmaking
-Digital Photography
-Darkroom Photoraphy
-Creative Writing
-Art History
-Singing
