The goal of the Studio Art in the South Pacific program is to bring together studio art practice with the challenges and advantages of off-campus study – drawing from nature in a new environment, studying social issues in the context of a foreign setting, and producing narrative work in response to travel. Students will work both to improve their drawing skills and to see drawing as a unique way to understand the world. The work of the entire term, including both drawing and printmaking projects, will form a visual journal in which the students will record the experiences of travel abroad. Students will examine social and environmental issues, learn about indigenous and post-colonial art and artists, visit with artists and interact with people along the way.

Fred Hagstrom is the program director as well as the instructor for all courses, assisted by guest lecturers and visiting artists. Fred has led six prior Carleton seminars in studio art to the South Pacific. His teaching areas are printmaking, drawing, book arts, and courses that focus on the narrative potential of art.