The Intercultural Communication Course Blog
Authors: Jessica Morgan (UConn), Isaac Siegel(UConn), and Rebecca Sorensen (Penn State)
We decided to talk to a local artist and try to find out what inspires him in a city so full of inspiration. Tiziano Lucchesi is an artist. To his students he goes simply by “T” and it is obvious in his classroom that he enjoys what he does. Having a comfortable classroom setting is important when creating art because one wants to be in a space that allows for creativity and encourages individualism free from criticism and judgmental thoughts. T is able to create this atmosphere for his students. When we asked him what his favorite part of teaching was he answered, “The relationship with my students and the way I teach. I find a way to teach as I would have liked to have been taught as a student.” This just goes to show T truly cares about his students and the artwork they create. He teaches both American and Italian students and says there is no way to compare them. All of his Italian students study restoration and so he cannot compare them to his American students because they art that he teaches both groups is so different. However he encourages all his students to “always try to do more and be better.”
Being from San Miniato T has spent his whole life near Florence. San Miniato is a small city in the Tuscan region of Italy and is a province of the better-known city of Pisa. Having grown up here T was surrounded by famous art from a young age and was submersed in the rich culture that Italy has to offer. T claims it was the environment of Florence that inspired him to pursue art, “The feeling you have going into the town. You can’t avoid what you see on the street and to think about who was here and what they have done. It’s too easy to be inspired.” We have to agree with him, walking past Brunelleschi’s Duomo everyday does seem to give us a welcomed sense of inspiration. The environment of Florence seemed to be a favored subject for T, when we asked him what he liked most about Florence he said the environment of the city, “You can suddenly find yourself on a small path with a church where you couldn’t believe it would exist.” Hearing this makes us want to go out and get lost on purpose, but that’s just us! We had to ask T who his favorite artist was, and to our surprise he answered with an artist we knew: Michelangelo. T appreciates the feeling that the paintings evoke once they switched from sense of realism to a style that was more appealing to the viewer.
When asked about his own work T said he could not pick one piece to be the most proud of, but he is proud once he completes a painting. He explained that after time there is always something that he feels he could have done better on his paintings so it is more a feeling of accomplishment that makes him proud.