In a Worcester Mag feature story, Amanda Luyster, a lecturer in visual arts at the College of the Holy Cross, discussed her Introduction to the Visual Arts course, through which her students collaborated with Worcester’s South High School to produce a virtual tour of selected pieces at the Worcester Art Museum for smartphones, tablets and computers.
“I wanted to make my art history classes feel more grounded in the ‘real world,’” said Luyster. “I liked the idea that college students could learn from the people and resources around them, and I thought that community-based learning would be a good way to approach and examine the relevancy of art in the world today.”
In the tour, titled ARTful Bodies, the students write about, make artwork about, and talk about art objects depicting the body and how those artworks seem connected to (or distant from) their own lives. “We can all relate to the images of the human body in which we inhabit,” explained Luyster.
The course, offered through the College’s Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning, gave Holy Cross students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the community, exposed high school students to college life, and helped all involved to appreciate art more deeply.
This "Holy Cross in the News" item by David Cotrone '13.
