The goal of the Studio Art in the South Pacific program is to bring together studio art practice with the challenges and advantages of off-campus study — drawing from nature in a new environment, studying social issues in the context of a foreign setting, and producing narrative work in response to travel.
Students will work both to improve their drawing skills and to see drawing as a unique way to understand the world. The work of the entire term, including both drawing and printmaking projects, will form a visual journal in which the students will record the experiences of travel abroad. Students will examine social and environmental issues, learn about indigenous and post-colonial art and artists, visit with artists and interact with people along the way.
Eleanor Jensen is the program director as well as the instructor for all courses, assisted by guest lecturers and visiting artists. Eleanor is new to the South Pacific OCS program, recently taking over for Fred Hagstrom. Her teaching areas are field drawing, observational drawing, and printmaking, as well as organizing Carleton’s Drawing Club.
The Studio Art in the South Pacific 2023 Program is in full swing. Students arrived in Australia at the beginning of January ready for a term of thoughtful engagement with a new environment through drawing, printmaking, and reflection. With a month of drawing under their belts, the students are now tackling new printmaking skills at the Australian Print Workshop in Melbourne.
