Dominic Black is a California teacher who has taken his visual arts students across the globe to study the world’s masterpieces and create unique artwork on location. Here, he writes about his experiences with student travel, partnering with Explorica, and where he’s headed to next.
Why did you decide to start taking students on educational art and travel tours?
In 2010, I was asked to design the perfect art program experience for high school students. I told them that in addition to high-quality instructors and materials, free instruction, and dedicated facilities, an authentic art program must include an opportunity for travel, in order to experience the world’s masterpieces firsthand and to create artwork on location.
The benefits of travel for any artist, especially a student artist, are immeasurable. Being able to see the world’s finest works of art in the cities and locales where the artists actually created them provides a context that cannot be found in a book or a virtual tour.
How do you pick your art tour destinations?
Because I am a visual arts teacher, I am not bound to one region or country. Any place in the world can be my classroom—public art, historical monuments, museums and galleries, and even the people themselves—are all part of the visual culture that inspires me and my students. As long as a few hours of drawing time on location can be squeezed into each itinerary, I can take my students practically anywhere!
Why did you choose Explorica as your travel provider?
I was stranded in a hotel outside of Paris because our plane had been overbooked. My wife and other chaperones escorted the students home, but I was stuck. In the lobby, waiting for a meal ticket from the bartender, I ran into another teacher who could see I was upset about the whole situation. He told me about his experiences with Explorica, and it sounded like they took good care of him and his students. I felt like the company I was working with at the time had left me hanging on more than one occasion, so I switched to Explorica and have been happy ever since.
How have you liked working with the Explorica team to plan your trips?
The team at Explorica has worked with me on every tour, every step of the way. They know that I like to customize my tours, usually to allow for more drawing time, or to visit a special museum, or to go somewhere fun like Tokyo DisneySea, and the team always makes this easy. I can add a day, change an itinerary, and offer special incentives to encourage signups all with their help. My tour groups have grown in size each year thanks to Explorica’s resources.
What’s your favorite part about traveling with students?
I love every part of traveling with young people, from helping them navigate the airport to making a Turkish coffee. Just like in the classroom, I love to see the lightbulbs go off as students see or experience something they never have before. When I see that happen, I know that I am blessed to have been there for that special moment in their lives.
Which trip has been the most memorable for you?
Greece was the most magical, most historically intense, most beautiful place we’ve visited. The weather was perfect, the tour director was excellent, and the students that year were an absolute dream. One thing that set that tour apart was that my wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage and renewed our vows aboard the cruise ship part of the tour, in the Aegean Sea, at sunset. Our all-female student group served as the wedding party, the ship’s captain performed the ceremony, and I had bought rings in Athens. The students and their parents all knew my plans, and they were so happy to participate. It was a total surprise for my wife!
How do you think your tours change the way your students experience art?
There is nothing like the experience of drawing and painting on location, especially in a foreign place. The intensity of focus one must have in order to study an object or a building or a place means that for that time, everything stops. It’s like meditation with the lights on. We absorb all the sights and sounds and create our own lived-in postcards.
When we look at art or historical monuments together, I am often able to give students more art historical references because of my background in the arts, and as a working artist, I’m able to explain in detail some of the choices of artists firsthand. When we went through the Uffizi, I had to give my students a crash course on Christian theology in order for them to appreciate the evolution of the religious painting in Italy. At the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, we were able to analyze the master’s brushstrokes, up close, to thoroughly understand his method as fellow artists.
Where is one place you’d love to visit that you’ve never traveled to before?
Croatia seems amazing—a perfect blend of culture, history, weather, natural beauty, good food, and the sea.
Take your art students abroad to see the creative side of the world. Whether your passion is for painting, sculpture, poetry, theater, or prose, our fine arts tours cover the spectrum of artistic destinations.