As a digital media major, the focus of my work may appear to strictly be digital, but I believe that artists, even those in computer based fields, take inspiration from everywhere. Therefore my proposal for the travel fellowship doesn’t adhere solely to my major, but to all my interests and passions as an aspiring artist, designer, and photographer. Having never spent any considerable amount of time outside of the country, or even really out of the southern region, a fellowship to Europe would prove to me a wonderful opportunity to take inspiration from places that I might not otherwise get to experience.
France and Switzerland, one may seem to be a stereotypical destination for a euro-based trip, and the other a smaller more obscure place to travel. Except both will provide a wonderful learning opportunity. I plane to enjoy everything from museums, to architecture, to even castles, and to cultural events. France is one of the premier places in Europe to experience the arts, as it contains everything from museums such as historic Louvre to land marks like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Tropmphe. With tons of things to visit and experience from the Notre Dame Cathedral, to the Palace of Versailles, to Chateau de Vincennes, to the Moulin Rouge, the artistic opportunities of France seem almost innumerable. France is also the birthplace of both animation and photography. The focus of my trip would be to visit mainly Paris, France, but if possible I’d like to venture out a little too to places, such as the beaches of Normandy. Overall, France would be a wonderful place to experience, enjoy, and learn from.
Switzerland on the other hand may seem to pale in comparisons to what France has to offer, except I have personal and artistic reasons for traveling there. Firstly, my father has significant interest in our family’s genealogy, and has been cataloging and researching our ancestors for years. He currently operates a website and database dedicated to our heritage called “The Furr Surname,” homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~furr/. I’ve learned from my dad that the Furr family lines runs all the way to Heinrich Furrer who was the first Furr to immigrate from Switzerland to the United States. Beyond that, our research is sparse and full of holes that I would be grateful for the opportunity to help with, by actually traveling to my family’s homeland. As far as artistically, Switzerland would offer me the opportunity to visit the homeland of the International Typographic Style. With my interests in graphic design, I have a penchant for typography, and Switzerland would afford me the opportunity to visit some of the famous type foundrys. They were the creators of some of the most prolific and well recognized typefaces in use today, such as Helvetica. Along with foundrys, Switzerland has a beautiful landscape surround by mountains that would wonder to capture through photography. It contains everything from the wondrously large Alps mountain range with peaks such as the Matterhorn, to the Rhine Falls which is the largest waterfall in Europe, and the many lakes spotting the country. Switzerland would also be a beautiful place to appreciate and document.
To document and draw from this journey, MCA has provided me with the tools and experience to sketch out my inspirations and create from them. I plan to record my entire journey through the use of sketchbooks and photography. Both my sketchbook and my camera will never leave my side. I hope to fill up both my sketch book and many memory cards worth of photos that could provide me not only beautiful images to enjoy in their own right, but with resources for future web designs, animations, graphics, and anything else I would be inspired to create.
Budget:
Flight (round-trip): ~ $1632
Hotels: ~ $900
Rail Pass: ~$300
Food and other expenses: ~ $668
Time line:
June 1, 2012 – June 15th, 2012: Leave Memphis Tn and arrive in Paris France.
June 15th, 2012 – June 30th, 2012: Leave Paris and arrive in Geneva.
June 30th ,2012- July 30th, 2012: Arrive back home in Alabama and sort and create from my resources.
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