Contemporary Arts and Culture will be taking a trip to Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass. on Thursday, April 16, from 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. The students will visit such exhibits as Lee Boroson: Plastic Fantastic, Sayler/Morris with Elizabeth Kolbert: Eclipse, and Christopher Chiappa: Stasis Horror. This field trip is required for the four students who are enrolled in the Contemporary Arts and Culture class. Fine and performing arts teacher Natania Hume is overseeing the trip.

The Nile Project Artist Residency came to the Dodge Room in Reed Campus Center on Monday, April 6, from 1:40 pm – 3:10 p.m. to share their music and work with students.

According to their website, the Nile Project unites artists from 11 countries along the Nile basin (Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and beyond) to create one unified sound. The music is produced by a variety of instruments, including the masenko from Ethiopia, the ney and oud from Egypt, and the adungu from Uganda, in addition to violin, saxophone, bass guitar, and vocalists singing in all 11 languages.

The on-campus field trip was required for students who are enrolled in Wind Ensemble and String Ensemble and was arranged by faculty members Kim Evelti and Ben Demerath.

On Tuesday, April 7, from 6:30-10:30 p.m., students enrolled in World Civilization, String & Wind Ensemble, and American Music Roots will head to the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a performance by the Nile Project. 

Mr. Demerath noted that the Nile River has been “the cause for concern and conflict due to political change and population increases in the countries along its banks. The Nile Project performance [has] a goal to use music to open up dialogues and address these concerns.”

Eduardo Angel, a visiting filmmaker, spent the morning of Saturday, March 28 on campus (in addition to his Friday evening talk for the Photographers’ Lecture Series). Mr. Angel worked with the Film Making II class during periods D and G. The on-campus field trip was required for students who are enrolled in Film Making II and was arranged by faculty member Ed Hing. Read more about Mr. Angel.

On Friday, April 10,  Sarah Klumpp and Sarah Sawyer took their “Williston Scholars:  The Literature and History of the Elizabethan Era” class over to the Massachusetts Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Librarian Jeff Goodhind took the group on a tour of the archives and showed them a working printing press.  Students then spent time researching their independent projects in the library where they were able to use books dating back to the 17th century as well as current scholarly works. Ms. Klumpp notes, “It was great for our students to see how to conduct research at the college level and to experience the energy and enthusiasm of Jeff, who is clearly passionate about his work in Renaissance scholarship.”

Acting III students will take a day trip to New York City to see two Broadway plays on Sunday, March 29. The trip is required for the four students in the class and will take place from 8:30 a.m. – 1 a.m. If you have questions or concerns please contact faculty members and trip chaperones Emily Ditkovski and Charles Raffetto.

On February 19, the Video Game Programming class will visit Hit Point Studios in Springfield from noon to 1:30 p.m. Faculty member Kim Evelti notes that the CEO of the company invited this class to see the studio and meet the design & programming team.  This field trip is required for the nine students who are enrolled in Video Game Programming, which meets period G.  If you have questions or concerns please contact Kim Evelti.

On January 30, 15 students will take a trip to Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut. The students, who are in Acting II and Play Production, will leave at 6:30 p.m. to see a production of “Private Lives” by Noel Coward, directed by Tony Award-winning director, Darko Tresnjak. If you have questions or concerns please contact Emily Ditkovski or Charles Raffetto.

On February 12, students from the Honors Latin IV and AP Latin will enhance their study of Graeco-Roman culture, history and literature by visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for a guided tour and individual research.  Browsing the museum’s world class antiquities collection will give students the chance to examine representations of the myths, historical figures and daily life objects about which they have been reading in Latin, as well as to explore the influence Greek and Roman culture have had on western art through the centuries.

This field trip, which will take place from 7:45 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., is required for students who are enrolled in AP Latin and Honors Latin IV.  If you have questions or concerns please contact Beatrice Cody.

Contemporary Arts and Culture class will visit the UMass Museum of Contemporary Art in Amherst on Thursday, January 29, from 12:30-2:30 p.m. During their field trip, the class will visit an exhibit by Chinese artist Jun-Fei Ji. Fine and performing arts teacher Natania Hume is overseeing the trip.