<p>My daughter was accepted at the Tuscany program for this summer--she did SAIC last year and loved it. We are all excited (and I am jealous!). I have read all the threads here that discuss the program, but those all focus on if one should apply. I would love to know if anyone has any nuggets of information to pass on as to what she should bring, what can she do with regards to her art to prepare, any special clothes, any special art supplies that we might not think of, any thing to think about with regards to getting her work back home, any insight about the facilities and if she needs to bring anything special for them. She will leave in a little less than two months, so I am starting to plan! Thanks all.</p>
<p>congrats!
l can see the jealousy and excitement. I was there three (four, if count coming one)summers ago. It was an inaugurating year for Tuscany pre college.
I have not checked what is what this year but from what I know
you should be getting big supply list. it depends on who is teaching.
my kid’s year it was constructed by MICA’s then painting chair, who had say in which hue of acrylics which brand of easel, water color pan set, which clear pushpins(!)
after some parents crying for the suitcase capacity and costs, amount/numbers of tubes, weights of paper pads are reduced and revised.
I followed religiously where I could (not that Moore pushpins, cheated and bought cheapo store brand) but in the end, did not even needed three quarter of them because my kid is a slow, few pieces at most worker and teaching is lax, self motivated and self managed.
It depends on your kid.
I have seen some kid poster who did 1000 times more work in same three weeks.
I can not remember his user name now, I will dig out and post later.
there are few parents posters no longer active. I can still call on them to stop by.
bathing suit(there was a pool in the villa, and field trip to beach) towel, good shoes or sandals (no flip-flops) hat with brim, sunscreen, all summer essentials.
camera that could charge at overseas, do not roast battery (he did) cellphone was not needed. the nice coordinator/teacher had communal one that kids could borrow time to time.
maybe it’s still the same guy. then you are in good hands.</p>
<p>pack light, so you have enough room for the works on the way home.
he brought back bottles of heavenly olive oil and slab of olive tree trunk, wooden pestle and mortar, rocks and one T-shirt from the Niki de Saint Phalle’s park, and very few pieces of paintings, all them unused supplies, plus there were last day-give away pile from kids who could not fit everything in the bag. he collected great amount of bull clips and brought them back. don’t ask me why.</p>
<p>Hi. My son did it last year and loved every minute of it. Bears is correct, you will get an extensive packing list, both for art supplies and for clothes. They will (at least they did last year) provide travel easels, so you won’t have to try and pack that. One thing they listed, that my son was skeptical about was an art supply back pack. He originally thought a regular back pack would be fine. The art supply back pack was worth its weight in gold, and he continued using it for his senior year at school.</p>
<p>All the art work is done on canvas board, so it packs easily to go there and to come back home. There is an art store near where they stay, so if your daughter forgets something, she can always buy it there. Here’s some of the paintings my son did (scroll down to the landscapes) [Matthew</a> Adelberg’s Art](<a href=“http://mattadelbergartwork.blogspot.com/]Matthew”>http://mattadelbergartwork.blogspot.com/)</p>
<p>Definitely pick up a decent Italian/English dictionary and have her start learning a little ahead of time, at least the basics.</p>
<p>The contacts she will make at MICA will be amazing if she winds up deciding to go there for college. This is where my son is going next year. He even got a scholarship for completing the Tuscany program. Not sure if he’ll be there this summer, but a teacher that used to be a MICA who now is the art department head at my son’s school usually goes along as one of the teachers. He’s awesome.</p>
<p>We had to have our son at MICA around 2-ish on Saturday. They had an extensive orientation that afternoon and evening to prep them for the trip. I’m going to post last year’s art supply list in a separate post to keep this from getting too long.</p>
<p>DRAWING TOOLS:
*A set of water-soluble colored pencils (use paint list for color suggestions)
*Soft graphite pencils (HB, 2B, 4B, 6B several of each)
*Pencil sharpener with reservoir
*Favorite pens for notes and drawing (Sharpie, Uniball, etc.- bring several)
*Bamboo reed pen or crow quill pen with preferred nib
*Ink- Higgins Black Waterproof Ink (#36884 Utrecht) or Higgins Eternal Ink (#40640 Utrecht) Double bag in ziplock bags to avoid leakage. Must pack in checked baggage.
*Round Sumi brush (#4, #6 or #8 choose one that feels good size-wise) (#40515, #40520 or # 40522 Utrecht)
*White Mars Eraser
*Kneaded erasers
*Vine charcoal- soft and medium (carry in a box with padding so it does not break)
*Small piece of chamois</p>
<p>WATERCOLOR:
Please note that MICA will supply students with a 12 pan watercolor travel set.
*One #6 and one #8 round watercolor brush</p>
<p>SKETCHBOOK:
Choose one or two that travel well, have paper that suits a variety of media and that you love. A small sketchbook (4 X 6 inches) that fits in a pocket is very convenient, however, something with a larger format (5.25 X 8.25 inches) and heavier paper is good for more permanent work. There are sketchbooks that have watercolor pages too. Moleskin makes a variety of sizes and styles. Be sure that at least one of them fits in your carry on luggage. You must have a sketchbook at all times!</p>
<p>REQUIRED PAINTING SUPPORTS:
Please note that drawing paper and watercolor paper will be supplied to the students by MICA.
*One piece of Foam core cut to fit the dimensions of your largest suitcase. This will provide a sturdy drawing/painting surface for you to attach your paper to when on location.
*Optional- Ampersand Artist Panels and Canvas boards are optional supports to work on. The Ampersand Artist Panels are primed MDF board that work well with a variety of both wet and dry media. The canvas boards are primed canvas boards. You may want to bring a couple of these (16 X 20 inch and 11 X 14 inch). (See Ampersand Artist Panels and Utrecht Canvas boards in the Utrecht online catalog.) Canvas paper is another option.</p>
<p>REQUIRED BACKPACK
You are required to have a backpack for carrying your art supplies. It is important that you are traveling hands free when carrying your supplies from location to location, so a tool bin or carrying case with a handle will not be acceptable - backpacks only. You will find your life much simplified (and set up and clean up much quicker!) if you purchase a backpack that is specifically designed for carrying art materials, the following are recommended:
ArtBin Back Pack (Utrecht #39166$35.99)
Prat Backpack Portfolio (Utrecht #24690$59.99)</p>
<p>The following pigments are required. The Utrecht brand of paints are very good quality for the price. Other quality pigmentssuch as Golden and Liquitexmight cost slightly more. There are new lines of acrylic paints, Golden Open Acrylics and Atelier Interactive Professional Artists Paint, that have the advantage of losing moisture more gradually, allowing for control of the drying process and minimal color shift as the paint dries. If you are accustomed to working in oils and have extra funds, then you might check out this line of paints. (Note- if you choose to go this route, you will need to make sure that you purchase the right amount by weight. Check the tube sizes.) Whatever brand of paints you purchase, they MUST be acrylic and you MUST have each of the colors listed below in the recommended quantities.
White−5 oz Titanium White, 2 tubes (Utrecht #1111)
Red
-2 oz Alizarin Crimson, 1 tube (Utrecht #2247).
−2 oz Venetian Red, 1 tube (Utrecht #2186).
yellow
−2 oz Yellow Ochre, 1 tube (Utrecht #1181)
−2 oz Cadmium Yellow Light, 1 tube (Utrecht #2326)
Green
−2 oz Cadmium Green, 1 tube (Utrecht #2261)
−2 oz Viridian Hue, 1 tube (Utrecht #2264)
Blue
−2 oz Phthalo Blue Green Shade, 1 tube (Utrecht #2264)
−2 oz Ultramarine blue, 1 tube (Utrecht #2151)
Violet−2 oz Dioxazine purple, 1 tube (Utrecht #2475))
Gray−2 oz Paynes Gray, 1 tube (Utrecht #2193)
Brown
−2 oz Burnt Sienna, 1 tube (Utrecht #2184)
−2 oz Burnt Umber, 1 tube (Utrecht #2188)
Optional Colors
−2 oz. Naples Yellow
−2 oz. Terre Verte
−2 oz. Cerulean Blue</p>
<p>BRUSHES:
Get one each of the following:
Filberts #12 (Utrecht #33469), #8 (#33474), #4 (#33471)
Rounds #8 (Utrecht #33495), #4 (#33491), #2 (#33490)
Flat #14 (Utrecht #33377)
1 or 2 inch soft brush (synthetic sable is fine)</p>
<p>PALETTE:
Masterson Sta-Wet Handy Palette (#41056)- This palette is recommended because it will keep your acrylics from drying out. You can store them and use them later. This will help you conserve paint.
Masterson Sta-Wet Palette Paper Refills (#41057)</p>
<p>OTHER REQUIRED SUPPLIES:
Please note that MICA will supply students with a small aluminum tripod folding easel during the program. MICA will also supply students with fluid matte medium.
A metal-bladed palette knife. (Utrecht sells a wooden handled palette knife, #32892)
Cotton rags/cloths for paint clean up (such as EZ One Pro Painters Rags, Utrecht #51995)
Quart bucket with lid (Utrecht #51992)
Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver2.5oz (Utrecht #32133)
OLFA all-purpose cutter (Utrecht # 41588)
Moore clear pushpins, 100 pk (Utrecht # 34521)
Ziploc storage bags, gallon size, 1 box
Four Boston Bulldog Clips (Utrecht # 33320)
Utrecht Artists Tape 1in x 60yd- White (Utrecht # 44164
One plastic spray bottle (small)</p>
<p>I would not recommend buying anything until you get the list for this year, because different instructors want different things. We spent about 400.00 on supplies for the trip, and that was with him already owning all the listed brushes, along with other misc items.</p>
<p>Also, there are washing machines at the villa where they stay, but no dryers. You’ll need clothes pins for hanging clothes to dry. I don’t have the packing list, i think that got mailed instead of emailed. But I remember it saying that he should pack light. I don’t remember him needing sheets, but he did need towels. There is a pool at the Villa, and one of the staff on the trip is a certified life guard. Everyone is trained in first aid, too.</p>
<p>We did not buy an international cell phone. We did buy international health and accident insurance, after finding out that our health insurance wouldn’t cover him getting sick there.</p>
<p>We made a copy of his passport for here in case it got lost, they staff will also want copies to keep in case it gets lost.</p>
<p>If you have other specific questions, let me know.</p>
<p>Debbi, thanks. The art list arrived today. Of course my daughter wants to go to Dick Blick rather than utrecht, but I think that I will put my foot down as it will be easier to shop off this list. The wierd thing is that the clothing list is 2 casual outfits and one dressier one. Huh? My daughter could wear that in one day! I am assuming that on top of this she will bring some shorts and tshirts for the painting days. Did your son come home with a lot of quality work for his portfolio? I am very excited for my daughter, but hope that she will get at least a couple of portfolio quality pieces to round out her work.</p>
<p>What is canvas board and how much does she need to bring? I also will check my health insurance to make sure it covers her–great suggestion. Congratulations to your son. We loved MICA when we saw it. I will probably have more questions later.</p>
<p>debbi !!
so it was you!!
I got mixed up with MWS kids/moms and sent wrong mail to some wrong mom.
I see that MICA revised lists from how it went in the past.
we still got that big bottle of matte medium and loads of 5oz tubes.
travel easel was actually very useful thing to have afterward. they taught how to set up and clean up without running water around. he still go out and paint here there.
the easel makes him look legit for whatever he is painting or not.
but maybe biggest award besides being in Tuscany is, super talented kids you meet there who came from all over the places, and go out to colleges all over the country and abroad in coming years. don’t have to be friends with everyone but by eating sleeping art making with only 20 some kids, there were long lasting stimulation you can’t get from other big group of pre-colleges.</p>
<p>Just have to say
MICA’s Tuscany credits are accepted at my kid’s non-art school.
I wasn’t even counting on it, for most schools did not even ask it to be sent.
am I thankful or what.
There should be student ID# on the paperwork.
if you keep it in file, it will be easy to dig record for them years later.
costs 3 bucks per transaction with written request
quick response
Thank you Thank you</p>
<p>Good to know B and D. Daughter comes back on Sunday, and I can’t wait to see her and hear more about the three weeks!</p>
<p>We picked up our daughter today. She is now showering and getting ready for bed. She did about 18 pieces, about half of which were paintings, the rest sketches or drawings of sculptures which she actually likes to do more (drawing, not painting). I think many of them are good and a few are really impressive. All in all a great experience, but as both B and D and Deb said, this was a program for self-motivators. There was very little guidance on how to paint, and my d had never painted anything before, except with watercolors in the classroom. So, landscapes with acrylics were a bit challenging at first. She said there were some kids who complained about the lack of help, but d knew that it was a precollege class and if she needed help she would need to ask. So she did, and the help was there. Beyond the work, though, I have to say, she came back and already expressed this love of the countryside, the manner of the people, the beauty of the rooftops and the colors in the landscape–things that over time are more important than the work she did on the trip. I will post more as I hear more. I heard all this and saw some of her photos just since coming back from Baltimore tonight. Thanks all for your thoughts beforehand. Oh, just wanted to say, she left a lot of her paint in Tuscany for the program next year–even the unopened tubes. Can you see me blowing steam through my ears?!</p>