Prior to the start of the spring 2024 semester, 14 Moore students set off on an international adventure to Rome with adjunct professor of Interior Design Francesco Sgrazzutti. No matter their major, each student's goal was the same: Create a series of 30 hand sketches that tell the story of their trip to the Italian capital.
Sgrazzutti, who is originally from Italy, wanted students to weave themselves into the social frabric of the city and let go of perceptions of perfection in their art. Once the group returned to Moore, he asked them to write a two-page essay about their experiences.
Those essays, along with a real-life collage of their illustrations, are on view in The Galleries at Moore until Saturday, April 13.
"Born non-digital, each work lingered in a private relationship with their creators, enjoying with them the unique aura of a moment, before entering the public relam of social media," Sgrazzutti wrote in a statement that accompanies the exhibition. "What you see here is the collection of those moments, presented to you raw and with no filters, just as they have been captured at the instant of their creation."
Read on to see selected sketches and essays by Fine Arts student Courtney Drake '26 and Animation & Game Arts student Hunter Purcell '25:
Courtney Drake
Honestly, in the days before the trip, I was genuinely considering not going. Most of my family had COVID-19 the week before I attended, and the combined stress of quarantining away from my family, packing, visitng a country where I do not speak the language, and flying alone for the first time was extremely overwhelming. With that being said, traveling abroad to Italy was a wonderful opportunity that I never thought I would get, one that my grandparents had worked hard to provide for me, so I pulled myself together and went. Once I was through all the stops at the airport, my anxiety fully dissipated, and I finally felt the excitement that I should have been experiencing for months beforehand.
There were many things I loved about Italy. Along with the obvious response of delicious food, beautiful views, and comparatively warm weather, I gained a sense of confidence about my navigational skills, ability to communitcate with very limited Italian, and a newly returned enjoyment of sketching without the pressure of creating my best work. Though I love art, even with the pressure of outdoing myself with each new work, the encouragement to draw without an ego—to simply record my own experince in a visual diary of sorts—gave me back a freedom of expression that I didn't realize I'd been missing. I think that the style of sketching paired well with the subject matter of Rome's winding streets, ancient cobblestone paths, twisting trees and ruins from the Roman Empire. The loose, imperfect mark-making gave life to my depictions of the equally imperfect yet character-filled and charming city.
Though it sounds cliché, from the perspective of an artist, Rome was beautiful in a way that I had never witnessed before. There was a sense of magic in the local neighborhoods, often featuring houses several hundred years old in varying tones of pink, orange, and yellow. When the light hit them late in the afternoon, they seemed to glow. The cobblestones, though sometimes difficult to walk on, never failed to make me wonder just how many people had passed over them, worn down in the places most walked on. As an American, the buildings I entered have never been more than about 250 years old. In Rome, the oldest buildings date back to the fourth century, with an undeniable sense of grandeur that was almost overwhelming. Even the trees there captured my attention, with the same narrow, twisting brances and flat-topped leaves as I'd seen in old Renaissance paintings though never quite imagined in real life. The beauty of Rome was beyond inspiring—like being dropped into an ancient artwork and expected to go about business as usual.
In such a small group of students, almost none of whom had ever been to Rome, we naturally bonded very quickly and intimately. Even after our longest days of roaming the streets of the city, already having walked nearly 20,000 steps since waking up that morning, we always went to the larger apartment to spend the rest of our night together. Within days, the number of people who I considered to be my friend had grown exponentially. We bonded over our shared experiences in Rome and at Moore, and spent the nights laughing, trying Italian snacks, and making memes of the silly things that had been said that day. Our bond with Francesco was perhaps the most unexpected yet wonderful aspect of the trip. His open excitement at being our professor and his joyful, funny nature made the trip that much more enjoyable. Though I may never be in Italy again, the friendships that I made have remained intact thus far in my time back at Moore. For that, I will be forever grateful.
Hunter Purcell
From early to mid-January this year, I had the honor to go on Moore's annual study abroad trip to Rome. The city was my classroom and I had the chance to sketch some of the most iconic landmarks in one of the most historic locations in the world. I was very grateful to be able to see the world—as I had never been to another continent before—and to draw it along the way. I feel that this experience strengthened my skills as an artist and gave me a newfound sense of confidence in sketching.
My favorite place that I visited was most likely The Vatican. I'm half-Irish and come from a Catholic family, so to go to the capital of the church I was raised in was a very fun experience. While I wish we were able to sketch in the museum, I took loads of photos and was able to draw from my own references. Seeing the tombs of the popes was unreal. It felt like walking through history, but so intriguing to see how popes of the past have been honored and decorated. There was a surreal kind of beauty to it that I find hard to describe.
My favorite place to sketch was Tivoli. The villas were breathtaking and had so much history to them—more than I can begin to comprehend. It was a rainy day, so my drawings got a little wet, but it wasn't anything a little drying couldn't fix. I found myself flocking to the buildings themselves. As an Animation & Game Arts student, I like to draw environments, and the ancient villas were no exception. I was also keen on drawing the ruins, like an ancient, run-down column in Villa Adriana. Althought what I saw was gorgeous, I saw a mere portion of what the villas had to offer, and I could probably spend days in there before seeing everything.
I believe that this trip helped me grow as an artist immensely. I used to be really slow with my artmaking process, even in sketching. I have never been the type of person to just do a loose sketch until this class taught me that it doesn't need to be perfect. It felt so freeing and, in the short time since the trip ended, I have been much faster and efficient with my art skills. I think this will help me in a fast-paced industry like animation and quicken my process in my junior and senior theses, as well as other studio classes in my studies at Moore.
I am very grateful to have experienced the 2024 Rome trip. I met and made friends with people from different majors and grades I would have otherwise never talked to. I saw a part of the world I had never ventured to. I gained new skills and memories to last a lifetime. This study abroad trip is one I will look back on for many years to come.
Want to learn more about travel opportunities at Moore? Click here to read about study abroad trips and international travel fellowships or contact Academic Advisor Ashlee Wellenreiter at awellenreiter@moore.edu for more information.
