Part II: Background Statement One of the things that fascinates me the most about art history is its ability to change one s perception of the world. I no longer simply look at art, but I actually see it, analyze it, and appreciate it. When I initially interviewed for the Honors Program and found that Elon was considering making art history an official major, I knew that I had found my school. Not only would I be able to enjoy the advantages of a mid-sized University, such as smaller classes and more personal student-teacher relationships, I would also be able to take classes that would help prepare me for a future in which I would be able to utilize my love for art and its history as well as my abilities in writing and organization. Art history has most certainly affected the way I see art, and it has also positively affected the way that I create my own work and the way that I approach projects in seemingly dissimilar fields; for that, I am eternally grateful to the subject. Art history is so interdisciplinary that I am able to recognize influences in my studies from all different areas of my own life: my longtime passion for drawing can be equated to my interest and appreciation for artists and their works and how those works communicate to viewers through style and content. Having knowledge of the art-making process intensifies my connection with the artists that I study, and my love for writing comes into play in articulating that connection. Analyzing research articles in my field and then crafting response papers is just one of the many ways I have found I am able to link my interests of art history as well as writing together to create worthwhile projects and experiences. One of the best experiences I have had thus far at Elon was my study abroad course over Winter Term of 2008. I feel that as an art student, and as a global citizen, study abroad is an imperative aspect of my college career. Study abroad is ideal for developing a sense of independence in oneself, especially while being in a country where English is not the primary
2 language. Art, however, is a universal language and travelling abroad to France as part of a University course was a once in a lifetime experience. Not only did I get to enjoy the breathtaking sites of Paris, but I was also able to utilize my professors knowledge of the city to enhance my own experiences. Moving through the museums and galleries of Paris with my own personal tour guides allowed me to take so much more from the trip than I would have had I been on my own. Walking through the Louvre felt something like an out of body experience every time that I recognized a piece of art I had learned about at Elon, I came to appreciate more the invaluable nature of all of my art history courses. Learning about artworks within the context of their historical time period, as well as being able to analyze them in a classroom setting, prepared me to see the images in person and truly appreciate their value. Likewise, I have since returned to Elon anxious to learn more about the artworks that I saw and also cognizant of the fact that a slide or computer image can only portray superficially the merit of a painting or sculpture. While in France, I had the opportunity to visit the Cluny Museum and see its medieval treasure: The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, known in France as La Dame à la licorne. Since childhood I have had an interest in the ways that various cultures portray the unicorn, both aesthetically and didactically; being able to see and analyze the famed tapestries up close was an experience that I ll not soon forget. The tapestries symbolism and aesthetic power are striking given their over-emphasized two-dimensionality, and their ability to speak to viewers through illustration is something I wish to explore further in comparison to other artworks that deliberately accentuate their two-dimensional nature. This interest in the influence of twodimensional artworks is also evident in a children s book project I hope to see develop over the next few years. I have drafted a moralizing story that I want to publish one day, so that it can
3 positively influence children as did so many books my parents read to me when I was young. The story re-explores the age-old adage of not judging something by its appearance, and the illustrations will bring to life appealing animal characters that children will be able to appreciate. The exploration behind the power of two-dimensional media becomes extremely evident in this project, and the adage itself is particularly relevant to the field of art history. Not all artworks appear as they seem, nor can they be judged as such. This is a lesson that I am still learning through my various art history courses at Elon, and that I will continue to realize after graduation. I wish to utilize the skills and knowledge I will obtain in my time at Elon to earn a career in which I can satisfy both my need to be involved in the arts and also my aptitude for organizational and research-oriented skills. I have become increasingly interested in the inner workings of museums, a curiosity that has been fed by all of my subsequent art history courses thus far at Elon. A common assignment in each class has been to visit a museum and analyze the exhibits as well as museum politics, and due to this I have become progressively more aware of my desire to learn more about this aspect of the art world. I aspire to secure a position in museum administration after Elon, and am currently in the process of applying for an internship at the High Museum in Atlanta. Were I to earn this internship, I would be working closely with museum staff to research and develop exhibits related to the High s partnership with the Louvre in France. My passions in the fields of art history, art, and writing, which once seemed to be separate, are merging increasingly as I learn more from both Elon and the experiences that the University has opened up for me. Receiving the Lumen Prize would allow me the opportunity to truly explore my interests through my proposed experiences and products, and in turn to recognize the connections between them.
4 Part III: Proposal Narrative Focus or Goal The merging of my disciplines of interest, art history, art-making and writing, is the central focus of my proposal for the next two years at Elon University. The way in which I propose to make this merging of interests tangible is through the completion of both a research thesis and a creative project. My aim is to show that, while the two projects may superficially seem to exist within two separate disciplines, they will actually inspire and feed into one another. My overall objective is to generate two specific products and to engage in experiences in my junior and senior years at Elon that will allow me to explore and recognize the integration of my interests. I aspire to continue to take interdisciplinary classes, utilize study abroad opportunities and gain a relevant internship that will all help me realize the possible merging of my interests of art, writing and art making, and these experiences will help me to explore the ways in which my interests are related. Proposed Experiences One of the integral parts of my next two years at Elon University will be the classes I take and how they play into my overall goals of disciplinary integration and aid in the completion of my proposed products. In the realm of art history I will take several more courses that will enhance my skills in writing and research as well as add to my fundamental knowledge base of the history of art. I will take an art history methodologies class (ARH 301) in the fall of my junior year, as this course will help me to determine the appropriate methodologies for approaching my thesis. Here, my writing and research skills will be paired with my interest in art history and the results will be a greater knowledge of traditional research processes. This information will be invaluable in the realization of my thesis.
5 Alongside my art history major, I have been taking classes that will allow me to earn an art minor. The digital technology offered through the Elon West art building will be fundamental in the realization of my second proposed product, a children s book that I will write and illustrate. My experiences in Digital Art I and II have prepared me to take on this project, and I have made plans to utilize the digital lab over the next two years to create my illustrations. I will pay the lab fee required for students of Digital classes and subsequently be able to utilize the lab whenever I wish, so I will be working independently over the next two years to execute this project. I have forged a strong relationship with my Digital Art teacher and feel confident that I will be able to receive guidance and criticisms on this project removed from a classroom environment. I plan to travel abroad to Italy in the Winter Term of either my junior or senior year, in a program based on the heritage and history of the region. In this course I would be able to explore and analyze original artworks, monuments, and texts. As an art history major and as an artist, I have come to realize that seeing artworks in person is fundamental to one s understanding of them. This is why pursuing study abroad opportunities is imperative in furthering my studies: being able to analyze and explore two-dimensional art works in Italy s renowned museums would prove pertinent to my gathering of thesis research. By examining the illustrative narratives present in works I find in Italy, I would be able to better understand the particular details represented within The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, the wall hangings that I will be exploring in my thesis research. A crucial element of the study of art is personal experience of it, and one of my proposed experiences for the next two years is travel not only abroad, but also to relevant museums nationally. Were I to receive the Lumen Prize, I would be able to utilize a portion of my funds to
6 make research oriented trips to various museums in which artworks pertinent to my study reside. Two such museums are the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts and the Mazza Museum in Findlay, Ohio, both of which house picture stories and narrative art from children s books. An exploration of the museums contents would be extremely beneficial in the development of my own illustrations for my creative project and also in the study of how illustration and two-dimensional media utilizes narration, which is directly related to my research thesis. Another museum trip that I would be able to make with the added benefit of the Lumen would be to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met houses a series of seven tapestries that, similar to the Lady and the Unicorn, utilize illustrative narrative to tell the story of the hunt of the unicorn. To examine these tapestries against The Lady and the Unicorn would allow me to draw comparisons between their use of narrative and provide crucial background and comparison information for my research thesis. I have applied for an internship over this summer at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Were I to receive this internship, I would work in close association with museum staff to develop and research exhibits. This experience would help me to further develop my research skills and also familiarize me with the inner workings of museum politics. One of the museum exhibits I would be aiding in developing is the What Is a Masterpiece exhibit in partnership with the Louvre. I would have access to many of the Louvre s precious works, of which there will be pieces beneficial to my research. I have already had a preliminary interview and am optimistic about what the outcome will be; I will find out whether I am accepted to the program in May. In the event that I do not receive the internship, I will work with an art teacher in my local recreation center; teaching art at this recreation center is a job that I have held for the past several summers. If this were the case, I would dedicate a portion of my time in the evenings to
7 volunteer positions available at the High in order to acquaint myself with the museum and in order to strengthen my application for the summer after my junior year. Proposed Products My goal by the time I leave Elon is to have completed two projects: the first being an art history research thesis, and the second being a children s book that I will write and illustrate. While superficially these projects may seem to exist in two separate disciplinary realms, they are inherently linked in that they both integrate my interests of art history, writing, the process of artmaking, and the power of narration through two-dimensional media. With the help of the Lumen Prize, I would be able to put all of my energies into the exploration of these two projects and also into the ways in which they are related. My Honors thesis will be an extensive research paper in which I will utilize the skills I have gained at Elon to investigate and report on an issue related to art history. The particular artwork from which I am drawing my inspiration is the Unicorn Tapestries, a set of medieval wall-hangings currently in France. While I was initially drawn to the tapestries by my interest in representations of unicorns in artwork, my curiosity towards them was intensified when I was able to see the tapestries in person in France. Examining the pieces, it is evident that their overemphasized flatness is an integral part of their overall aesthetic. As someone who both studies and creates art, I am fascinated by the way these tapestries utilize narration within a twodimensional medium. While it will be necessary for me to do background research on various other forms of assertively two dimensional artworks and their use of narration, the focus of my thesis will be on these Unicorn Tapestries, their creation and aesthetic, as well as the story they tell through imagery. I will study extensively the symbolism of the figures represented in each tapestry, how placement of these figures affects the narrative, how the tapestries use of visual flatness is
8 effective and also how the story they tell makes them appealing to modern day scholars. My interest in this topic stems from both my study of narrative illustration across the various periods of art history as well as from my own experiences with art making. The children s book that I am writing is a story meant for young children which teaches an age-old adage: never judge something by its appearance. An integral aspect of this book will be the illustrations, which I will complete with the aid of digital technology offered through Elon. The story will be brought to life by animal characters portrayed in bright colors and a cartoonish, overemphasized flatness; in this way, the book will appeal to children while offering a strong narrative and a definitive moral. This creative endeavor itself will be completed through the utilization of my art-making skills, but the idea of art as narrative is something that I have learned through the study of traditional artworks across time and stylistic epochs. With this project, I am merging my knowledge of illustrative narrative gained through art history classes at Elon with my ability to create art. The resulting product will be appealing as both a fun read for children as well as a striking visual narrative of moral values. The integration of my interests into my proposed products is one of the most important things I will strive to realize over the next two years. My research of the Unicorn Tapestries and their successful use of two-dimensional image as narration will help me to explore further effective ways of creating poignant illustrations for my children s book. Likewise, the artistic process of creating a children s book, the main element of which is illustration, will help me to further understand the importance of illustrative narrative in the Unicorn Tapestries and other two-dimensional narrative works. In both products I will need to utilize skills I have acquired at Elon University, including a strong methodological approach to my research, digital and artistic processes learned through art classes, and the ability to write both analytically and creatively. Feasibility
9 This feasibility section will address my proposed budget as well as my proposed timeline for the next two years. Proposed Budget: Tuition. $8,000-$10,000 The added benefit of tuition money would allow me to put more energy into the exploration of my products and give me more freedom in the materials I am able to purchase and utilize. Digital Art Lab Fees...$600 Fee of $150 per semester X 4 semesters. This fee will be required for me to utilize the digital art lab over the next two years in the creation of my children s book. Study Abroad Fees..$3,000 If I were able to defer the cost of study abroad with some of the Lumen funds, I would have more money available for entrance fees into museums and galleries. Books, Articles and Media for Thesis Material...$400 This would include costs of books, journal articles, periodicals or videos that I would need to buy in order to research my thesis topic. Additionally, many of the primary sources related to The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are in French, and this would allow me to purchase translations for particularly relevant articles. Travel to Relevant Museums...$1,000 This would include travel nationally to museums in which I could gain valuable knowledge for the completion of both proposed products. Proposed Timeline: Summer 2008 Internship at the High Museum of Atlanta Begin collecting preliminary research for thesis Construct rough storyboard for children s book Junior Year Fall 2008 Junior Year Spring 2009
10 ARH Methodologies Research and develop proposal for thesis HNR 498 credit Begin illustrations for children s book independently Plan travel for Spring semester decide what museums to view, decide accommodations, itinerary Winter Term 09 or 10: Italy Thesis proposal due to the Honors Advisory Committee HNR 498 credit Majority of thesis research Travel to relevant museums nationally to aid in thesis research and illustration development Further work on illustrations, develop text aspect of the story Research internships and apply Summer 2009 Internship at the High Museum of Atlanta Research, begin drafting thesis Research publishing options for children s book Senior Year Fall 2009 Senior Year Spring 2010 HNR 498 credit Writing and revision of final draft of thesis Rough draft of thesis by the end of the Semester Seek out publishing opportunities for book HNR 498 credit Presentation of research findings Completed children s book