Philadelphia is the home of the Philly cheesesteak, the place where quarterback Michael Vick spreads his wings on the football field, and also where the National Art Honors Society (NAHS) took their last field trip.

Venturing to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 22, NAHS had the chance to visit the art exhibit of the famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh.

The society also visited Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, to see the scenery which served as an inspiration for them to create their own drawings.

NAHS member sophomore Kate Rizzieri enjoyed her first time in the city of brotherly love.

“My favorite two paintings of van Gogh’s were ‘Pair of Boots’ and ‘Sheaves of Wheat in a Field.’ My favorite part of the whole trip was Longwood Gardens and seeing the conservatory because there were so many flowers and trees. We almost got lost in it because it was so big,” Rizzieri said.

Picking a place to take a group of students that will hold their attention is hard to do, but not impossible for NAHS moderator Bruno Baran.

“We did it because it was called the ‘Up Close’ visit of [van Gogh’s] close-ups of flowers and plants. We then traveled to Longwood Gardens to do our own. Some of the students did drawings. Some did photographs to be later used in paintings. We also took a close look at his brush stroke, use of color, and dynamic texture in the use of his paintings,” Baran said.  The date was important as the exhibit was  going to be closed days later.

NAHS president junior Claire Zurkowski also appreciated this exposure to art and culture.

“I loved seeing work that I had not seen before. It was especially interesting seeing the way he used colors,” Zurkowski said.

“I finished a new painting this week and I was inspired by van Gogh’s mark making from the field trip, so I put some marks of contrasting color into my painting. It is my best painting yet,” Zurkowski said.

Imani Love is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com