Fine Art in-service training course in Salzburg

The European Community programme Socrates, made it possible for us, three Art teachers (B.Ed. Hons), to follow a three-week intensive Fine Art course through Comenius 2.2 In-service Training Grants. The course was held in the first three weeks of August at the International Summer Academy of Fine Art in Salzburg, Austria.

The Academy was founded by the artist Oskar Kokoschka in 1953. Our course, "Expanded Drawing", was located at the Hohensalzburg Fortress, originally constructed in 1077. Large halls were transformed into workshops providing the students with ample studio space and adequate equipment. On site there was also a well-supplied art shop.

We got to know about the course in January and with the help of our tutor, Anton Grech, we selected art works in order to present a portfolio. In May digital images of our work were submitted to the academy, on the strength of which we were chosen to take part in the course. This selection process was necessary because the class is limited to 15 students, since the Summer Academy aims at giving individual attention to students.

We chose to work with Michael Morgner, an established artist born in Chemnitz, Germany, whose works are exhibited in important collections worldwide. The theme of the course was "Figure and Metaphor".

During the first two weeks we were provided with two full-time models and had the opportunity to study the figure and its relation to space, using a variety of techniques. Concurrently we pursued our own projects based on individual themes. Every day we had discussions, individual critique of our work as well as presentations from our lecturer. We were also invited to his atelier in Salzburg, where he showed us some of his works and gave us detailed demonstrations of various techniques he uses.

The lectures, which were mostly in German, enabled us to get better acquainted with the language. During the course the academy organised an accompanying programme of exhibitions, public lectures and panel discussions delivered by international contemporary artists.

The last week was partly dedicated to selecting works that were mounted for a final collective exhibition at Hohensalzburg. This was open to the public.

Since our B.Ed. (Hons) course at the University of Malta (1998-2002) was mostly theory-oriented, such an intensive Fine Art workshop proved to be crucial to our artistic development as art teachers. We were also exposed to different art methodologies and techniques, which could be easily adapted to Maltese schools, if provided with the necessary resources.

Throughout the three weeks we worked with artists from Romania, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium and the US. This multicultural environment was a beneficial experience especially when it comes to teaching in today's multicultural classroom.

The experience was unfathomable and the best part is that the three of us get to participate in Professor Morgner's class once again as we were invited to attend another course on scholarship within the next two years.