Art Department

La Serenissima

Venice June 23 to June 29

$3600 double occupancy ($800 single supplement)

Extra Day* option for $250 per person

Sant'Elena Hotel

Why Travel with UNGC…its about the talent

VENICE 2013

Venice 2013 is the first in a series of annual trips that allow the greater community to take advantage of the unique combination of talents and expertise to be found in our greatest resource--the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Art Department Head, Lawrence Jenkens, and Weatherspoon Director, Nancy Doll, will lead this adventure centered on the Venice Biennale, arguably the world's most important contemporary art event. We will also have a chance to explore some of Venice's most remarkable Renaissance and Baroque monuments in Venice. And then there is our day on the terra firma traveling through the Veneto to visit Palladian villas and palaces and the monuments of Vicenza. The itinerary is positively crowded with wonderful opportunities to eat, sample Italian wines, visit some of the region's unique craftspeople and above all the unique opportunity to travel with your very own resident experts.

Lawrence Jenkens is the Head of the Art Department and a Renaissance art historian. He has studied the art of Renaissance and Baroque Italy for more than thirty years and along the way has spent a lot but not nearly enough time in Italy. Lawrence has lived in Rome, Florence, Siena, and Milan and knows Venice—including its small wine bars, cool shops, and out-of-the way treasures—very well. This year's Biennale is his fifth; it is always a thrill to see what the world has to offer in the realm of contemporary art.

Nancy Doll is director of UNCG's Weatherspoon Art Museum, a position she has held since August 1998. She came to the Weatherspoon with more than twenty-five years of experience as a museum director, arts administrator and contemporary art curator. She was the executive director of the Contemporary Arts Forum in Santa Barbara, CA, (from 1992 to 1998) and before that curator of modern and contemporary art at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (from 1986 to 1992). Nancy has also directed university art galleries in New Hampshire and Boston. She is an active participant in the field of contemporary art and has lectured widely published catalogue essays, reviews, and articles on the visual arts. Rumor has it she is also pretty good at shopping and enjoying good food and wine after intense art experiences.

Sunday, June 23: We begin our time in Venice with an afternoon walking tour of the city's great landmarks and districts led by our own expert Lawrence Jenkens. Early evening will find us at Osteria di Santa Marina where we will be joined for dinner by the MFA students who can further orient us to this great city. After dinner we will ride down the Grand Canal as we return to the Sant'Elena.

Monday, June 24: Today we begin with a tour of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a museum on the Grand Canal with a permanent collection that includes works by Picasso, Braque, Duchamp, Léger, Brancusi, de Chirico, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Miró, Giacometti, Pollock among many others. We will lunch at La Piscina, a charming waterfront restaurant overlooking the Zattere, the channel that separates Venice from the Lido . After lunch we will take the short walk to Ca'Rezzonica where we will tour a curator Cornelia Lauf's special exhibition of contemporary art in the halls of this 18th century palazzo.

Tuesday, June 25: New York based artist Christopher Saucedo will act as our guide during our exciting day at the Biennale. We will be joined by the MFA students as we begin with the main venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, break for lunch at Caffe La Serra before moving on to the numerous Biennale satellite venues located throughout the city. At the end of this rich and varied day we will enjoy a farewell dinner with the MFA students at Restaurant Al Giardinetto.

Wednesday, June 26: Our Day on Land We travel a short coach ride from Venice to the city of Vicenza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its numerous, excellent examples of Palladian masterpieces. We will visit the Villa Rotonda, the Teatro Olimpico, the Palazzo del Capitano and the Basilica Palladiana. We will lunch at Righetti Vicenza before heading into the Veneto to see more Palladian villas including Villa Barbaro. Amongst its other charms, the Veneto is also wine country. We stop at a vineyard or two before returning to Venice by way of Treviso and dinner at Trattoria All'Antico Portico.

Thursday, June 27: Our Day on the Sea We spent the day visiting the nearby islands of Murano and Torcello. We begin with the Berengo Studios on the island of Murano. Established in the late 1980's, Berengo is dedicated to preserving and reinvigorating traditional glass techniques through residencies offered to prominent international contemporary artists. In addition to this taste of the modern, we will visit one or two other small scale traditional glass studios known for their exceptional level of craft and artistry. We leave Murano for Torcello in time for lunch at the lovely and justly famous Locanda Cipriani. After lunch we will tour the Byzantine remains of this once great city including the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and its stunning 11th century mosaics. We return to Venice in the late afternoon. The evening includes the option of attending Madama Butterfly at the spectacular La Fenice (Supplemental fees apply).

Friday, June 28: We revisit the multiple sites of the Biennale in the morning before leaving behind the contemporary world at least for a few hours. With Lawrence Jenkins as our guide we visit Bellini's great San Zaccharia altarpiece, the Scuola di San Giorgio where Carpaccio recorded the story of St. Ursula and the 10,000 Martyrs and painted St. Jerome in his Study, Titian at Santa Maria de'Frari and Tintoretto's magisterial cycle of the life of St. Mark at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. We will celebrate our time together with dinner at the lovely Osteria alle Testiere.

Saturday, June 29: Depart Venice--or not! *For an additional $250 per person Saturday night's accommodation can be added to your itinerary giving you a full extra day to to explore on your own and at your own pace.

Tour cost of $3600 includes all admissions and fees, ground transportation (excluding airport transfer), 6 nights accommodation, 6 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 4 dinners. Cost does not include airfare, airport transfers and alcoholic beverages.