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Connecting With HistoryI admit that when I first heard about “Images of Saints in the Old and New World/’ the 12-part lecture series at the Downtown Studio of Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC) in June, it didn’t exactly sound like my idea of summer fun.But talking to Kristine Betts, an adjunct faculty member at Pikes Peak CommunityCollege, who will be presenting three of the lectures, turned me around. Her enthusiasm for the project is infectious.Betts explained that theimpetus for the series, which is under the direction of PPCC Humanities Coordinator Nancy McCollum, was “the desire to help elementary school teachers—and anyone else who wanted to listen—learn how to look at the art of two different cultures and learn ways to see how they ’re the same and how they’re different.” Choosing the two cultures was easy, thanks to a couple of fortunate circumstances. First, the Fine Arts Center is exhibiting their legendary Santos collection, and, second, Dr. William Wirth, former curator of the Fine Arts Center’s Taylor Museum and a respected authority on the religious art of New Mexico, is a visiting professor at Colorado College ’ s Southwest Studies Institute this summer. So, the series focuses on portrayals of saints in the art of Counter-Reformation Europe and 19th century New Mexico.Betts observes that the portrayalswill seem widely divergent to the uninitiated: “You have to know what you’re looking for since there are so many dif-People in the new world tookoff in their ownthe connectionst*ButEuropeanGreco, which appear in the paintings created half a world away by New Mexican artists.Far from being just bits of art trivia, those kinds of connections, says Betts, help us better understand ourselves. “Part of any humanities curriculum,” notes Betts, “is learning how to compare cultures and so better understand our own.” Helping people make those connections is the real joy of teaching, believes Betts, since it ultimately helps people to “see how humanities are all the same and begin to understand what makes us all the same.” On reflection, that certainlyseems a worthwhile pursuit—at any time of year.The lecture series runs June 18-29 and may be taken as a 2 credit course. For more information on the individuallectures, call 540-7300.
Newspaper Details
Colorado Springs Magazine
Colorado Springs, Colorado, US
Sat, Jun 01, 1991
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Kristine B.
USA 28 Oct 2022
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