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Each semester, painting and drawing classes typically occur in what originally was an Augsburg College chapel. Old Main 100 is an inspiring place with 25-foot ceilings and soaring windows. On-campus studios offer focused spaces for students to learn about visual art media, methods, and creative expression. For 25 years, Associate Professor and Art Department Co鈥慍hair has taught foundational drawing principles in Old Main with what she calls 鈥渁s few spectators and distractions as possible,鈥� and in recent years she also has led short-term international travel courses in which students develop the same skills without the support of a traditional studio.

This spring, Sweeney and her Minneapolis-based students traveled close to home as they stepped beyond the boundaries of the campus studio, choosing to forgo a controlled setting to embrace learning opportunities present in public areas that are as complex and challenging as they are diverse.

鈥淚nstead of creating a still life with the same old props, I utilized the city as subject matter and classroom,鈥� Sweeney said. 鈥淪tudents were as actively engaged in creative placemaking as they were in making drawings鈥夆�斺�塭ffectively shaping the physical and social character of whatever neighborhood, museum, coffee shop, or landmark we chose as a drawing site.鈥�

A core challenge

In the article 鈥淭he Power of Experiential Education,鈥� nationally recognized education scholar and professor Janet Eyler noted that a central challenge for liberal arts educators like Sweeney鈥攁nd indeed the entire Augsburg College faculty鈥攊s to 鈥渄esign learning environments and instruction so that students will be able to use what they learn in appropriate new contexts.鈥� That is, to successfully 鈥渂ridge classroom study and life in the world and to transform inert knowledge into knowledge-in-use.鈥�

In a drawing course, for instance, students develop technical skills while exploring individual subject matter and creative expression. It is perhaps the latter of these elements that came into clearer focus when Sweeney took her students out in the community.

The artists 鈥渕ade connections with strangers and learned things about themselves in the process,鈥� Sweeney said. They become comfortable creating art in the midst of daily life and finished the course with 鈥渞eal skills and the right tools to continue drawing wherever they find themselves and wherever inspiration finds them.鈥�

Just a glimpse

At Augsburg, students across disciplines and degree programs benefit from faculty instruction that integrates experiential learning opportunities with traditional instructional methods, thereby linking course concepts with real-world applications. The pages that follow offer a glimpse at a small sample of the faculty and students who use Minneapolis as their classroom.

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HON 230: Arts and the Cities

S迟耻诲别苍迟蝉听in Augsburg College鈥檚 Honors Program join Minnesota Orchestra performers onstage following a symphony event at Orchestra Hall. As an interdisciplinary course, 鈥淎rts and the Cities鈥� unites film, music, theater, and visual art鈥夆�斺�塷ffering students the chance to peruse Picassos, soak in Shakespeare, and mingle with musicians. Together, students and teachers explore the role of the arts in a culturally dynamic urban setting.

鈥淪tudents enjoy the experiential nature of this course,鈥� said Associate Professor of Music . 鈥淭hey often comment that it presents them with opportunities that they would not have on their own and deepens their understanding of the role of the arts in their lives long after the course is over.鈥�

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ENV 120:聽Environmental Science

S迟耻诲别苍迟蝉听clad in safety gear and earplugs to dampen the deafening noise weave their way through a Eureka Recycling processing plant. Environmental Science focuses on understanding and resolving problems humans have created in the natural world. The course includes hands-on learning opportunities that make complex scientific concepts more approachable and applicable for students.

鈥淭he city is the perfect place for these types of experiences to happen鈥攊t鈥檚 all right at our fingertips: a wastewater treatment plant, power plant, recycling center, and public transit,鈥� said Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies. 鈥淲e can observe the detrimental effects humans are having on the environment, and we also can see some of the ways we are trying to mitigate that impact.鈥�

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MIS 375:聽E-Commerce

S迟耻诲别苍迟蝉听speak with Abdirahman Mukhtar, a youth program manager at Pillsbury United Communities鈥� Brian Coyle Center. Mukhtar oversees the Sisterhood Boutique, a secondhand clothing store that serves as a training ground for young women to learn about entrepreneurship, business, community partnerships, and sustainable fashion. Through their discussions with Mukhtar, the Auggies began to apply some of their fundamental course concepts in a real-world setting.

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[Top Image]:聽Johanna Goggins 鈥�16 works on a sketch in the solarium at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.