Summer Art Classes

ArtLab @ Mountain Lake Biological Station

Summer Art Classes

Since the beginning of ArtLab, art classes have been offered as a way for more student artists to come to Mountain Lake. Each course offered has been a kind of experiment, as class structure at the Station is very different than that at the UVA Studio. Students are exposed to a new environments in which to create art, from the many trails and outdoor locations at Mountain Lake, to the cabins and buildings of the Station itself. These non-traditional art-making spaces encourage a new way to think about the process of creating art.

 

Summer 2011

  • Beginning Drawing I and II: The Landscape, Small and Large
    • Megan Marlatt, University of Virginia. For the first time, MLBS welcomes a Studio Art class to its mountain-top grounds.  In this new summer drawing course designed specifically for Mountain Lake, students will take advantage of the surroundings by exploring the landscape in regards to scale, drawing the smallest of nature’s artifacts to the largest of it’s panoramic vistas.  In respect for the scientific community that will welcome us to their nature laboratory, we will pursue that which both the Arts and Sciences have in common: the gift of observation.  Through acute observation of the environment students will sharpen drawing skills and expand understanding of nature as one of the greatest muses of the Visual Arts.

Summer 2012

  • Beginning Drawing I and II: The Landscape, Small and Large
  • Special Topics in Sculpture: Sculpture and Earth
    • William Bennett, University of Virginia. A class of earth, wind, fire, sticks, stones, and the alchemy of making. Sculpture and Earth will be a studio art course in making use of the natural resources and landscape of the Mountain Lake Biological Station. Projects will be made and exhibited on site. Photography and video will be used to record ephemeral works. This class will deal with the mysteries and responsibilities of living on and with the earth and marking our place and time in this relationship.  Advanced students wishing to pursue independent studies in sculpture should contact the instructor.

Summer 2014

  • Science Writing
    • Hannah Rogers, University of Virginia. Writing is fundamental to the practice and appreciation of science. We observe, think, and write about individual organisms, ecosystems, patterns and anomalies, to record our findings and to reach broader publics. This course aims to make students better writers as they communicate to specialist knowledge communities and to other citizens. Students will be inspired by the environment at Mountain Lake and other prominent nature and science writers (eg. Wordsworth, Oliver, Cole, Thoreau, McPhee, Berry) and use the experience to produce creative written works ranging from environmental essays to poems.  

Summer 2015

Summer 2016

Summer 2017

  • Science Writing