Art comes alive in Italy

John Donnelly Professor of Art

I began teaching art at MVNU (then MVNC) in 1989. Back then there were only a few, mostly mission-based, non-academic travel opportunities. As a young assistant professor, I approached the then art department chair, Jim Hendrickx (MVNU Professor Emeritus). I suggested to him, “Why don’t we do an academic travel course to Italy?” His smiling reply, “If you plan it and lead it.” I eagerly replied, “Yes!”

That began what has become a biannual Art and Architecture in Historical Italy travel course. Initially we had a J-term during which we traveled. Now our travel course occurs over the spring semester with the travel portion during our two-week spring break.

The first trip was in 1995. Since then, I have coordinated and guided 14 MVNU trips and several non-MVNU related excursions. Priority is given to student travelers but friends of MVNU are always welcomed to join us if space is available. The size of our groups has ranged from 35 to 50 participants. We work through educational travel companies to create an academic and culturally specific itinerary throughout Italy from Venice to Sicily. Over the years, we have traveled and studied in Venice, Florence, Rome, Assisi, Bologna, San Gimignano, Orvieto, Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Sienna, Ravenna, Pisa, and the region of Sicily.

In recent years, I have co-coordinated these trips with Dr. Jeanne Serrão and Professor Justin Sorensen because we have expanded course offerings to include art, humanities, art history, religion, and now Greek mythology in 2023 where we traveled to both Greece and Italy.

As a young college student, in 1980, I had the opportunity to live and study in Rome, Italy. It was transformative to my artistic knowledge but maybe even more so to the development of my worldview. I wanted to provide a similar opportunity for our MVNU students. Over 60 percent of the world’s art treasures are found in Italy (a country the size of California), according to the United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Experiential learning enhances the student’s and guest traveler’s knowledge that is not possible to duplicate in a classroom. In addition to our pre-departure classroom preparation, our private local guides in each city, museum, church, and historical location provide a wealth of knowledge and insight into the cultural, religious, and artistic influences throughout humanity over the millenniums. It is one thing to show pictures in class of the Sistine Chapel or of the statue of David, the Roman Forum, or Mars Hill, it is another to actually stand there and see it firsthand and truly grasp their significance. During the trip we have lively conversation and discussion over the best food, cappuccino, and gelato in the world.

The students undergo some real-world cultural differences — from language to food, to customs and politics, to religious beliefs. Each of these challenge the student’s presuppositions of another culture and form a basis for growth.

In some cities, like Assisi, once inside the old city walls, it is as though you have stepped back in time — walking where Saint Francis of Assisi devoted himself to God and service of his people. In larger cities like Rome, the ancient and contemporary live not in friction with each other but side by side in harmony.

Whether it is riding a gondola through the canals of Venice, a truly fantastical city built on water, or climbing the 468 steps of the engineering feat of the dome of the cathedral in Florence where the Italian Renaissance was born, Italy never disappoints. The food is a gastronomic delight. Sipping coffee in a piazza and watching the beautiful Italians go about their day is shear bliss. The gelato (Italian ice cream) is the perfect metaphor of Italy — La Dolce Vita — the sweet life!

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We’ve worshipped in amazing churches. We’ve seen the Pope. We have walked where Cesare has ruled and where the Apostle Paul has preached. We have seen the best of art and architecture. We survived a pandemic in 2020. All of it miraculous. Frances Mayes, the author of “Under the Tuscan Sun,” said it best, “I find other countries have this or this, but Italy is the only one that has it all for me. The culture, the cuisine, the people, the landscape, the history. Just everything to me comes together there.”