The offering of this onsite class is very timely because Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty has resurfaced in the Great Salt Lake.  Students in this summer study program will have the opportunity to visit several architectonic constructions known as Earthworks, explore natural monuments, and visit sacred Native American grounds. Most people are aware of Earthworks produced in the 1970s, however this knowledge stems only from visual representations published in books and journals.  Very few individuals have had the opportunity to physically experience and explored these sacred sites that mark the landscape, and shape our perception of the earth as an art form.  

This is an unconventional course, one without walls. The entire study experience will take place in the Southwestern region of the US: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.  Students will be given the opportunity to observe and experience not only significant Earthworks but also sites created by Native American cultures and the forces of nature.

Students and teachers will travel by bus to the actual sites in where the earthworks are located.

Professors:
Elaine A. King and Ruth Stanford will jointly direct the class, lead discussions and on site explorations.

Elaine A. King is an art historian, critic and international curator, former Director of the Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, and former Director/Chief Curator of the Carnegie Mellon University Art Gallery. ek06@andrew.cmu.edu

Ruth Stanford is a sculptor, adjunct Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University and Chatham College, ecologist and former endangered species biologist.  rstanfor@andrew.cmu.edu

Other speakers will include anthropologists, and Dr. Maureen Korp, author of the book "Earthworks and Sacred Sites".

The first organizational meeting for this Summer Study will take place on Tuesday, November 16, 2004, in The College of fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon School of Art, Carnegie Mellon University in Room 303, 4:30 PM.

Another meeting will be held in mid-January 2005.   

All interested students should contact  Elaine A. King, Professor, History of Art/Theory,
Carnegie Mellon University OR call the School of Art Office c/o Mark Cato at 412-268-2409 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATON.

Costs for tuition, lodging, bus, food, site fees, etc. will shortly be determined and posted on this website.

Students will provide their own air travel to a central meeting location.

Students will read assigned texts and articles prior to departing for the sites. Discussions will be held on the sites and on some evenings. Students will be required to keep a journal recording their responses, reflections, and experiences at each site. Journal entries should represent an analytical summation of the student’s experience of each site. Students will be encouraged to bring still and video cameras. One term paper is required. It focus will be on observations, experiences, and research about the various sites, artists, etc. It will be due one week after returning from the program.