MURFREESBORO — MTSU students learned firsthand
why the people of Scandinavia’s cozy countries continually top the United
Nations’ “World Happiness Report,” and their own report is “Passport to
Happiness,” a new art exhibit open through Aug. 15 in MTSU’s Todd Art Gallery.
Created by MTSU
students and Danish and Norwegian children during a special MTSU study-abroad
program, the art exhibit features multimedia pieces and artifacts created in
Denmark and Norway and in America, all focusing on happiness.
Dr. Debrah
Sickler-Voigt, MTSU art education associate professor, took seven students to
Denmark and Norway in May to study art, stay with area families and teach in
local schools for the “Scandinavia Abroad” project.
Brittany Gardner,
LeAnne Hannington, Bailey Ingram, Ciara Knight, Whitney Proper, Kaitlyn Roberts
and Tucker Webb made the trip, making stops in the capital cities of Copenhagen
and Oslo, swimming in the waters of the Arctic Circle, visiting Legoland
Billund, climbing mountains and admiring fjords, churches and museums while
immersing themselves in the region’s culture.
The students worked
with youngsters in the Anna Trolles Skole, or School, in Brenderup, Denmark,
and the Svolvær Skole in Svolvær, Norway, to create original works inspired by Scandinavian
folklore, art history and visual culture.
The Scandinavian
countries — Denmark, Norway and Sweden — regularly rank at the top of the
United Nations’ annual “World Happiness Report,” thanks to their solid incomes,
top healthcare and schools, and balancing their work and personal lives via
generous parental leave and vacation time and inexpensive child care. Combine
those factors with scenic vistas and hearty outdoor activities, and it’s no
surprise that citizens in those nations where the sun shines only seven hours a
day in deepest winter still consider themselves “happy.”
“We had read that
Scandinavians were the happiest because of their high standard of living,” Sickler-Voigt
explained during a radio interview this week, “so the students came up with the
lessons we taught: how can we communicate the idea of happiness that extends
beyond the things we buy and shows quality-of-life happiness.”
The students used
their time with their host families in Denmark to brainstorm project ideas for
their young charges during their classroom visits.
“We learned a lot about
the culture, every ‘little thing’ in life that makes them happy,” Gardner said
during the interview. “We did some projects in photography, book arts and paper
weaving to show how happy they are.”
“In Norway, we asked
children to write sentences in Norwegian and English about things that made
them happy. They didn't come up with ‘shopping’ or ‘money’; they came up with
things like ‘my dog,’ ‘my family,’ ‘my friends,’ and it was beautiful,” added
Roberts.
The result is a
series of projects displayed in the Todd Gallery featuring the children’s work
as well as the MTSU students’ art inspired by their experience. The “Passport
to Happiness” exhibit also includes hand-carved trolls from the collection of MTSU
professor Kent and Lynell Syler’s family, along with original Oleana sweaters
and knitted goods from the Norwegian company.
“Our goal for the
exhibition guests is to consider the importance of happiness in daily life and
how to implement a positive lifestyle by simply enjoying ‘the little things,’”
Gardner said. “Everything that the (Scandinavian) students made is up on
display, so you can really see what makes them happy.”
You can watch a video
Ingram created about the experience at http://youtu.be/X23ImEi-JEA,
and other videos are included in the “Passport to Happiness” exhibit, too. More
photos and details about the trip are available at http://www.facebook.com/MTSUScandinaviaStudyAbroad.
MTSU’s Todd Art
Gallery is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is closed
on weekends and state and university holidays.
For more information
about the exhibit, including parking and directions, contact Todd Art Gallery
Director Eric Snyder at 615-898-5653 or eric.snyder@mtsu.edu,
or visit http://www.mtsu.edu/art.
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