by Kavin Carter, Class of 2018

Students enjoy a day studying art and architecture at The Getty Villa

Students enjoy a day studying art and architecture at The Getty Villa

One of the best highlights about attending Providence is our Avodah Program lead by Max Belz (AKA, Prof. Avodah). The word avodah is a Hebrew word which means that as Christians, every part of our life’s should be an act of worship for the glory of God (check out Romans 12:1-2).

Providence students seek to not be closed off to the world by isolation on campus, rather they desire to engage with the community. Learning and experiencing other cultures and lifestyles, which is an important part of the Christian faith.

Los Angeles is a beautiful city with many iconic landmarks, but few compare to the Getty Villa. The Villa is one of two locations in LA holding some of the finest artwork in the world, the other location being the Getty Center.

The Villa is located on the south end of the Malibu coast near Los Angeles. The Getty Villa is a museum which focuses on the cultures and art of ancient Rome, Etruria, and Greece. The assortment of art holds over 44,000 pieces of Roman, Etruscan, and Greek artifacts dating from 6,500 BC to 400 AD. It was built over 42 years ago in 1974 when the land was donated by oil tycoon J. Paul Getty who opened the Getty center gallery next to his household in Pacific Palisades in 1954.

The Getty Villa has several extremely famous pieces art that students were able to get a look at. Victorious Youth, is one of a limited few life-size Greek bronze statues that is still in good condition. Another famous statue is the Hadrianic Roman sculpture known as The Lansdowne Heracles.   There’s The Marbury Hall Zeus which is an 81-inch tall statue made of marble which was found in ruins at Tivoli, Italy. The Villa also features a collection of jewelry, coins, and a wide-ranging book assembly boasting a 20,000 volume library on the topic of art from these periods.

“The Getty Villa is helpful because it teaches us about the roots of our cultural heritage through sculpture, mosaic, and architecture. The visit also prompted a good conversation about concepts of beauty rooted in Greco-Roman civilization” said Max Belz when asked about the experience students had.

Los Angeles is a beautiful city with many different kinds of cultures to experience, adventures to be had, and lessons to learn. The Avodah program provides students with a fresh, new, outside the box avenue to dive head first into one of the most culturally diverse places in the United States.

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Photo courteousy of The Getty Villa

There are new and exciting Avodah excursions that happen every three weeks and the best part is they are part of student’s tuition, meaning that students pay no extra fees or charges to go on these awesome excursions! Learn more about this Avodah and many others  at www.providencecc.edu/academics/avodah