Sadly, the Lacoste adventure for this eLearning student has come to a close. We had a wonderful Vernissage and Exposition our last weekend there in the Provencal town. The weekend was filled with excitement and accomplishment, but it was also filled with dread at knowing we would eventually all have to go separate ways and depart Lacoste.

Our Vernissage was really relaxed though exciting! Artwork was literally hanging on every corner and on every historic nail throughout the town. All the exhibition rooms were cleaned and very well presented for our show. We had a wonderful variety of artwork from the comic pages done by sequential students, train station designs done by the architecture students, kiosks by those in interior design and even collaborative pieces done by all three majors! Because our Lacoste group had many other students in other programs (like myself), there was a lot of variety in everyone’s artwork, which really appealed to many different types of art buyers throughout Lacoste. Many students sold their work and even gained commissioned jobs through their sales! It was an awesome experience seeing the artwork of the students in the exhibition and getting the chance to meet their families who had come to support them!

After our Vernissage we began the unfortunate process of dissembling the show and removing all the artwork that was hung. It was also at this time where everyone was allowed to leave the Lacoste campus early if they were planning on traveling back home with family or going abroad to other destinations. Dissembling the show and seeing others leave early was one of those bittersweet moments… it was sad that we were practically done with our Lacoste excursion, but exciting because soon we would be back home with our families and friends.

Personally, I am extremely grateful and thankful that I was able to attend the Lacoste program and meet all the wonderful students that came along as well. Lacoste is one of those experiences that you will never forget and one that you probably won’t appreciate fully until your back home in the USA. I already miss that hill that I complained about climbing everyday!

Everything in Lacoste was perfect… the views, the history, the professors and the coursework. It was all enjoyable! And coming from an online student, having the chance to be surrounded by people who are just as passionate about their majors was so amazing and influential. You can learn so many things from all the different majors and it was really interesting not only to see others’ classroom-based assignments, but to also see the artwork they created outside the classroom. The Vernissage literally gives you this huge palette of artwork that involves classroom work and also artwork done just for fun. Art is fun, remember?! That is why we chose to go to art school!

The Vernissage and the Exposition were so much fun and I can’t wait to send photos with next week’s article (the last one!).

I cannot believe that it is our last week in Lacoste! We only have six more days left of being here and though I am ready to go home, I am definitely going to miss this beautiful place and being surrounded by wonderful and talented students.

This week, we are preparing for our Vernissage exhibition, which is going to take place on Friday and Saturday of this weekend. It’s only two days away! We are all busy cleaning and painting the studios, hanging our finished wok and trying to get ready for an exciting weekend! Read the rest of this entry »

I honestly cannot believe we are already starting week 8 in Lacoste! Sometimes I feel like I just got here, and other times I feel like I have been here my whole life! It’s an odd feeling knowing that we will be leaving this place within two weeks and that we will no longer have to scale the hill, watch out for huge bees, and attempt to beat the crowd of students at dinner. I think it will be an adjustment for all of us going back home, as we try to get used to driving again ordering food in English. Read the rest of this entry »

by Alyssa Richards
Week 7 is here! This week is full of work, work, work as we prepare for our finals! It is shocking to think that we only have 3 weeks left here in the foothills of southern France. Honestly, it feels like we just arrived yesterday.

All the students here have been working hard to deliver their materials and projects for the final exhibition. Because most of our projects are going to be exhibited in the final show, we have to be finished with everything a week before we leave so that we can prepare our studios for the Vernissage. This week and next week we will be working on our final projects and assignments for our classes and then we are off to prepare for the show! Read the rest of this entry »

by Alyssa Richards
This week in Lacoste has definitely been eventful!

Friday morning, all the students took a field trip to Nimes and Pont du Gard, which are located only about an hour outside of Lacoste. Both areas have tons of ancient Roman architecture and Pont du Gard, if you remember from your early art history classes, is famous for its Roman aqueduct. We were able to swim in the river beneath the aqueduct, even though the water was still pretty cold! It was really calming after midterms to relax in the sun, dip your feet into the cold river and look upon an aqueduct that is thousands of years old.

Almost the entire weekend was spent traveling as that following Sunday, we ventured to Isle Sur La Sourge, which is known for its large market! There were antiques, produce, scarves and souvenirs for sale. The markets in France are always fun not only because you get to meet and see so many people, but you also get to see and smell the wonderful natural produce of France! I love walking by the olive and spice stands because the aroma is fabulous!

The next day, we ventured to yet another neighboring Lacoste city called Roussillon. Though there isn’t much to see in its city, Roussillon is famous for its red cliffs and its natural earthen pigments. We took a hike through the canyons and were instantly inspired by the colors all around us. The canyons are bright red (if you’ve lived in Georgia, just imagine the color of the red clay) and have strips of oranges and yellows throughout their layers of rock. Next to the green trees and shrubs, the colors of the rock seemed even more saturated. Many artists in the Provence area use these natural pigments in their paintings and some of the shops in the city had these pigments for sale. Roussillon is definitely a great place to see!

With so much traveling it’s hard to imagine taking classes where you don’t go on field trips all the time! I am so used to “working in the field” now that I may have to adjust to normal classes once I get back home. Even though it is very tiring to travel to other areas, I feel like I am learning a lot more than I would have if I had just opened a book. Here, you can experience each place and you can literally see all around the place that you are studying. It is an amazing feeling and I have found that I can recall things I have learned more easily when I have personally experienced them.

Now as we prepare for our Vernissage exhibition (our final art show), there are guest speakers and artists who come to lecture and also collaborate with some of the students on various projects. It is very exciting to know that in just a few weeks, we will be hosting our very own exhibit and that people throughout Provence will be attending the exposition! Today, we will be advertising our show by going to other towns to hang posters and to tell people about the event. Last week at the market, I was speaking to a local woman who was already excited about our exhibition and was planning to attend. I was surprised that she knew about it and that she was already looking forward to seeing our artwork!

Only a few more weeks left in the quarter! I can’t believe everything is going by so quickly!

By Alyssa Richards
Week 5 starts with a bang here in Lacoste! This past week has probably been one of the most exciting because not only have we had midterms, but we were also able to take a day trip to Arles, a neighboring city in the south of France!

Friday morning all the students in Lacoste hopped on the bus to head to Arles, the notorious home of Van Gogh and also home to bull fights and bull runs. Shocking isn’t it? Throughout our day in Arles, we were able to attend many events. Many students attended the Arles bull fights, which are the closest thing to ancient roman bestiarii (the fights between a roman gladiator and an animal). Taking place on Good Friday, Arles was covered with tourists, who were all excited about the day’s festivities. There were Spanish-inspired bands playing music outside the ancient roman arena where they held the bull fights, and there was even a bull run on a designated street within the city!

Not only could you visit and watch the bull fights in the roman arena, but Arles is also famous for being the home of Van Gogh. My friends and I were able to visit the hospital where Van Gogh was kept and also ate at the famous café, which he painted in The Night Café. Along with the history of impressionist artists, Arles had many ancient roman sites. Included with the arena, there were also roman baths of Constantine and a roman theater! It was so much fun to be able to take a seat and look out onto an ancient stage in a theater that was thousands of years old!

Now that midterms are about over and the students have calmed down a bit after the excitement of Arles, everyone is beginning to realize that we are already half way through the quarter! Time is going by so fast! I have finally gotten over my sickness, though it is probably because I went to the doctor in the neighboring village and got antibiotics for my bronchitis that I had developed. It seems now most of the students are feeling a little better, though there is still a cold going around the village, making its way from student to student. When you have hills to climb and field trips to attend, the last thing you want to be is sick! If you want to attend an off-campus program with SCAD, I would definitely pack any cold medicine that you might possibly need! It is much harder getting better in another country when you can’t read the labels on your medicine bottles!

Though people are still a little sick and the stress of midterms still lingers, Lacoste proves itself to be just as exciting as Arles… When we returned to Lacoste after our day trip, we were greeted by the “mistral’ winds and extremely heavy rain. The winds in Lacoste are brutal and in conjunction with sideways rain, you are looking at a pretty messy hike back up to your dorm room! I always look forward to the surprises that the south of France brings us!