Day 31:  Student Exhibition / Farewell Dinner Our last official day of our program. UNT Studio Art at SRISA Exhibition Students start in the morning by installing a show from the work in classes at the San Gallo campus.  We use the drawing studios for our class, while other classes at SRISA take other areas all over the San Gallo Campus for their exhibition spaces.  The place is a productive chaos with hundreds of students installing all at once... Installing the Exhibition After installing, we met up for a farewell lunch at a nice restaurant.  This was a nice way to spend a little time now that the studio work is up on the wall. Farewell Pranza Farewell Pranza Farewell Pranza ...and the Student Exhibition Reception at SRISA! UNT Studio Art Exhibition at SRISA UNT Studio Art Exhibition at SRISA signing thank you cards (made by Morgan) for the SRISA Staff Sharing memories on the last night Thank you for following our blog of the last 5 weeks in

Day 30: Duomo, Musuem / Figure Drawing We conclude our classes here in Florence with the central feature of the old city, the Duomo.  The Duomo (cathedral) is so big and tall that we all tend to navigate by this central landmark. Students got up early to walk some 463 steps up to the top of the dome of the cathedral. Burnaleschi's dome is his masterpiece in architecture with a double shell, unique harringbone construction, built without a centering.  Until modern architectural materials, the dome was the largest in the world. It is still the largest brick dome ever constructed. After the view of the dome, students met up at the Duomo musuem to draw from sculpture by Michelangelo, Donatello, and many others. the Duomo the interior of the dome Michelle looks up into the  interior of the dome. Hannah at the top  of the Duomo Kate at the top  of the Duomo panoramic view from the top of the Duomo

Day 29:  Works on Paper / Museo Novecento Students spent their last class studio session completing their monotype series with informal critiques and planning for the final exhibition. In the afternoon we met up at the Museo Novecento to see the permanent collection of Italian 20th Century art and a few special exhibitions including the exhibition Sculptor's Drawings featuring works by Adolfo Wildt, Jacques Lipchitz, David Smith, Louise Bourgeois, Luciano Fabro, Rebecca Horn and Rachel Whiteread. Lauren and Susan show sport studio black at the San Gallo campus print studios Cleaning up the studio today, Phil found his early drafts of a paper sculpture... and decided it was a halo... saint Phillip. Morgan poses at the Novecento Museum Adolfo Wildt sculpture at the Novecento Museum Louise Bourgeois sculpture at the Novecento Museum donning little booties before entering an installation with a delicate floor covering at the Novecento

Day 26-28: Venice Adventures (part 2)  Students explored in and around Venice through out the weekend.  There were visits to the Venice Biennial of architecture, museum visits, gondola rides, beach visits, shopping, and eating great food! Lauren and Michelle on a gondola Colorful shops on a canal on the island of Murano pigeons in Piazza San Marco with Hannah pigeons in Piazza San Marco with Kate Gondolas in Venice Madi, Hannah, and Kate take a Gondola ride  in Venice Adolfo Wildt Sculpture at Ca’Pesaro in Venice Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennial Brandon poses with huge inflating/deflating sculpture installation in the Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennial Anika, Mariana, Kendall, and Morgan pose for a selfie on Lido Island  Mariana and Morgan on Lido Island Brandon trying on the Venice tourist souvenir hats Fowzia and Christian in taking a break from the sun Venice: Canals at night

panoramic view of Venice from San Giorgio bell tower Today we took an early morning train to Venice for a few days among the narrow walkways and canals. After arriving, we checked into hotel Casa Caburlotto and hopped on the vaporetto (water bus) with a view of the Grand Canal with its banks lined with gondolas, museums and palaces. Just a short boat across the channel took us to San Giorgio Island where we took in a view looking back on the island of Venice from a bell tower.  After viewing some huge Tintoretto paintings at the church of San Giorgio, we viewed some shows of contemporary glass and an architectural exhibition of Vatican Chapels .  A short boat back took us back to Piazza San Marco where we began a short walking tour through the San Marco and Dorsoduro neighborhoods. In the afternoon we landed at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum where we viewed the permanent collection along with a show on Joseph Albers in Mexico. Happy students on the train to Venice Madi on t