The Griffon News

The Big Apple will be invaded by Griffons when 29 Western students travel to New York March 29-April1, for the New York study away trip.

This will be the fifth time Missouri Western students have traveled to New York to take in everything the world-class art scene has to offer. While in the city, the students, who are from all disciplines, take in all the major art-world hotspots, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney and the Guggenheim.

Because students are from all disciplines, the trip is created to cater to each individual’s interests. Some attending the trip are theater majors, so they will attend a show or workshop instead of a museum stop. The trip is also a great opportunity for photography majors as well.

“It’s a chance for the students to shoot some of the most famous iconography,” said professor Geo Sipp, who is the faculty advisor for the trip. “Each student brings his or her own visual experience and language to the image.”

Sipp also believes this is a good experience for fine arts majors, because he thinks that seeing the same works and images repeatedly can make those images emotionless, and ultimately, ubiquitous.

They start to lose the emotional impact that the artist intended them to have.

The New York study away trip is one of the more eagerly anticipated in the program, so some generally have to be turned away.

Students from Piedmont University and Steven F. Austin University will be in New York at the same time, so all students will have the chance to experience the best of what the scene has to offer. And because they are all students, most museums will simply accept a freewill donation in lieu of admission.

An interesting aspect of the trip is that although the itinerary stays fairly the same from year to year, the exhibitions are always changing, so it is never the same trip twice. This may be why some students choose to take the trip twice.

One such student is Jennifer Bruckshaw, who will be attending for the second time.

“Last time, we went to all the larger museums. This time, we get the chance to check out the smaller Chelsea Galleries that we didn’t get the chance for the last time,” Bruckshaw said. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim are always first choices.”

The Chelsea-area galleries are a major draw for another student attending the trip. Nathan Glynn, a junior majoring in Studio Art, is looking forward to the Chelsea Galleries most of all.

“My main goal is to see what is happening right now, and New York is definitely an epicenter for the art world,” he said. This will be Nathan’s first trip to the Big Apple with Western.

“It was a chance to experience not only what is going on in art, but also a huge cultural experience, as well,” Glynn said. “I think it is also a great opportunity. I’m glad the school offers this program, and that Geo offers his time to allow students to experience this. It will immediately influence my art.”

Bruckshaw had a similar opinion. “I just want to see what things people are doing now that I can apply to my work later on,” she said.