Around the World Art History

   
​   Travel around the world, examining the incredible beauty within diverse cultures, linguistics, and belief systems through the profundity of art. From ancient objects associated with ancestor worship in China to magnificent hand-carved reliquaries enabling access to sacred ceremonies in the Caribbean, we will expand our horizons by taking in a deep past as we consider its impact on our present. While marveling at humanity’s dynamic complexity, we travel along the songlines in the ancestral lands of the aboriginal people of Australia. Along our journey, we will make our way through West Africa, Colonial Latin America, and Ancient Rome before finding the dawn of globalization and echoes of modernity in the 17th-century Dutch Masters.
 Aboriginal Art's Diverse Interpretations of the 'Dreaming'
Together we approach the Songlines that motion towards the beginning of time. On a journey through diverse interpretations of the 'Dreaming', we will encounter a rainbow serpent, origin myths, and an incredible myriad of linguistics. We will see bark paintings, rock paintings, and scar trees that offer us an  opportunity to begin to understand the oldest living culture in the world. Learn More
Exploring the Art of West Africa
Secret societies, storytellers, and sculptures will amplify our horizons as we contemplate masks that introduce an incredible constellation of West African cultures. Transformative visual art with magic powers produces profound expressions of sacred social structures. Join us as we encounter beauty, beliefs, and controversial cures along Africa’s west coast. Learn More
Introducing Chinese Art
The art of ancestor worship and offerings pull us into ancient tombs, where we will examine sacred bones and divinations that changed the direction of civilization. Goddesses spread tradition across ancient trade routes, as queens of ancient China give way to mandates from heaven and military conquerors in search of eternal life. As one dynasty falls, it gives way to another, bringing the great thinkers, philosophies, and strategies to the confluence of cultures in ancient China.
Ancient Rome’s Judeo-Christian Connection to Today 
Beneath Rome’s soil lies the secret that accelerated the rise of a republic transformed through art that masked reality with the godly ambition of Emperors. A new religion will arise atop the eternal city’s ancient foundations built on the back of a fallen kingdom. In art and architecture at the confluence of myth and history, we rediscover Rome through the stories deep within our western world today.  Learn More​​
Intrducing the Colonial Art of Latin America 
​We will explore the idea of Europe’s accidental “discovery“ of the Americas through syncretism in art, beliefs, and linguistics that continue being a part of our world today. Pangea reunites, influencing all facets of European culture, creating a romantic vision of a “New World.” Misinterpretations and misunderstandings abound as our collective past is built atop the foundations of preexisting belief systems. As Europe and America meet, a global exchange begins.


​Beneath the Beauty and Banality of 17th-Century Dutch Masters
​From within the structured still-lifes and group portraits of the world's second superpower, shadows of darkness and reflections of light will form a new reality. We will examine symbolism, realism, and the backstory that gave birth to globalization. Traders, boat builders, and risk-takers wander across the canvas as we see desired autonomy influence resistance to the world's first superpower.  Learn More