How to start your school year off right

Two months ago my husband and I moved to Lancaster City, one of the things that I was the most excited about was being able to walk almost everywhere.

 

Well really, I was most excited about getting a much larger studio and teaching space…… but back to the walking.

 

As I wander around town, I’m fascinated by how quickly the architecture, landscape, and overall feel of a street changes. Turning a corner can feel like walking into a different world, and with each street I examine the buildings, wondering when were they built, who determined the layout, why did someone build one house one way, and another a completely different way.

 

Lancaster’s architecture spans four centuries, from the 1700s to the present day. (Twenty-first-century buildings recently constructed in Lancaster include the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center at Penn Square and the Ware Center on North Prince Street.)  Scattered across the city are small log houses, stately mansions, row houses, former factories, warehouses, commercial and civic buildings and churches. These buildings are important for their historic significance as well as their daily usage today, and directly link the past with the present. ( lancastercity.com)

 

This is why I love art history, because it both answers and asks those kind of questions. Art history helps us to understand the world around us and the people that came before us. Much like history class, but with a different perspective.

 

Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of history class, it didn’t excite or intrigue me, you probably feel the same way. However , I love studying history through art, because architecture, design, fashion, paintings, and photography catch my attention and spark my curiosity. All areas of art leave clues about what came before, what life was like, and what people valued.  History helps us to understand the present and predict the future.

 

Art history is about much more than looking at pretty or sometimes not so pretty paintings. It’s about understanding and unpacking the creative process. It’s about human psychology. It’s about understanding design, and solving problems.

 

Here’s what Margaret had to say about her experience Taking AP Art History

 

What was your favorite thing about the course?

Could you tell me your favorite line out of of the last book you read? I couldn’t… The whole is only as good as the sum of of its parts, I loved every part of the course, as a whole.

 

If you could change one thing about the course, what would it be?

I’d make more hours in the day so that I have more time, there was so much to cover.

 

Would you recommend this class to another student, if yes, why?

If I thought that they had a keen interest in art and really wanted to learn about it I would more then recommend it, I would sit there trying to convince them to take it until they eventually had to agree.

 

If you could give advice to a future student, what would you tell them?

Hmm probably just to enjoy it and learn don’t worry about the test at the end because it will come and go and after it I realized I missed my big, chunky, heavy, wonderful art history book and that I didn’t really care about my score.

 

Registration is now open, and it won’t open again until next August. Click to find out more about taking the course for credit, or auditing the course.