“This Tuesday a full room of undergrad and grad students, as well as faculty and other community members, gathered for the first in-person Ars Vivendi Arts Initiative workshop. We were led by the dynamic and kind Marina Gross-Hoy, writer and PhD candidate in Museum Studies, based at the University of Québec in Montréal.

In this workshop, Looking at Life Like Art, Marina challenged the group to apply that same “museum gaze”, that careful and meaningful looking we lend towards works of art, towards our everyday environment and living.

After her thought provoking opening remarks, we went out into a garden space, under the dark night sky, looking for line, texture, movement, light, engaging those elements of art that normally go overlooked. Students lay in the grass, contemplatively walked the grounds, open to all before them.

We then returned inside to share and reflect on the exercise. Students came from all different disciplines, from MBA students to engineering to art history majors. We hope you’ll keep exploring this practice of careful looking, and thank you to Marina and to all who attended for making this first Ars Vivendi workshop a success!”

- Jess Sweeney, Director of Ars Vivendi Arts Initiative, Collegium Institute

For inquiries about workshops and speaking engagements:

collaborations (at) marinagrosshoy.com

I’m Marina Gross-Hoy, a Museum Studies PhD candidate, writer, and mom in Quebec. I'm passionate about exploring what looking at artworks can teach us about seeing the art of our ordinary lives. You can find more here: