AP Art History took a field trip to the Getty Villa on Saturday, December 14th to see the art they learn about in their class.

Robert Lynde, the teacher of this class, lead the tour, pointing out specific pieces they have studied. The art ranged from the Greek Geometric period to the Late Classical including sculptures, bas relief (carvings in stone), and examples of architectural features like columns.

Lauren Beets, Junior, said “the most memorable part of the trip was definitely seeing all the art pieces that were thousands of years old and being able to connect them to what we’ve studied.”

Since the distance was too far for a CUSD field study, students travelled on their own to the Getty, instead of taking a bus.

“My father drove me there with my buddy Ethan Cook… I had a pretty good time!” said Courtney Atkins.

Several other parents went, along with three alumnus that took the class two years ago when it was last offered.

The size of the rooms in the Getty are small, limiting where the group could go together. Lynde sent students out to look on their own, after explaining a little bit of what they were about to see. After, they met as a group, discussing what they saw and how it was relevant to the class.

“I loved seeing the Archaic smile on statues like Kouros,” said Anna Bruns about the statue of a nude man standing. Kouros is an Archaic sculpture displayed at the museum exhibiting the Archaic smile from Ancient Greece. The slight smile symbolizes that the person is alive and well.

Mr. Lynde is already planning the next field studies for AP Art History. He said, “we are going to go to the Norton Simon Museum because they have examples of art from the Boroque through modern Era. We’d also like to go to Serrano’s house so we could see examples of how he decorates his house.”

Overall, the trip was successful, from having everyone arrive there safely to the students learning outside of a classroom environment. Ryan Brady, Senior, stated, “I now understand the true beauty of art and its importance of sparking creativity in the human mind.”