The semester is almost over. Final critiques have come and gone. Classes have wrapped up and students have begun the arduous process of packing up and moving out. But before Cornell in Rome’s Spring 2015 class leaves Palazzo Lazzaroni for good, there is one final event to celebrate the hard work of a semester spent living, working, and learning in Rome.
The Final Exhibition is open to the public and utilizes every inch of the palazzo space to display artworks, architectural projects, and urban planning informational displays. A one-night-only event, the planning committees elected from each department began preparations weeks in advance as invitation designs were created and selected, floor plans were scrutinized, and work was curated. The days before the event were a flurry of activity as work was installed and the exhibition spaces prepared.
On May 14th at 7:00pm the doors of the palazzo swung open to reveal the classrooms, studios, and library all transformed into gallery spaces full of drawings, models, posters, booklets, photographs, sculptures, and installations. Guests were ushered up the marble staircase, flanked by tiny glowing candles, and into the halls where they found student work, a delightful spread of refreshments, and a festive atmosphere.
Guest critics, internship supervisors, professors, visitors, students, friends, and family all milled about the rooms discussing the work on display, but also intermingling with all the conviviality of true celebration. The Final Exhibition was a show of work but it was also an opportunity to engage, to interact, and to find closure and joy in one’s efforts and explorations.
