From Sketches to Sound Effects, CLA Brings Learning to Life at Grandparents University
At Grandparents University (GPU), grandparents and grandchildren don't just visit Purdue. They get to experience it together.
Over two days, participants choose from a variety of hands-on “majors,” working alongside Purdue faculty and staff to explore subjects ranging from science and engineering to music, art and the humanities. Among this year’s offerings were College of Liberal Arts experiences that invited participants to create, experiment and see the world a little differently.
For John and his grandson, Mikey, that meant spending two days making art in Sketches & Sculptures.
Seeing art in motion
John and Mikey spent time sketching sculptures in the Degas Gallery, painting and creating their own sculptures of people in motion.
For Mikey, who lives in West Lafayette, and John, who lives near Grand Rapids, Michigan, it was their second year attending GPU. But the activities themselves weren't the only reason John keeps coming back.
“The best part of attending is being with your grandchild and making memories together,” he said.
Their experience was one of many ways CLA classes gave families a chance to learn together, with each course offering a different way to explore creativity.
Telling stories through sound
In Once Upon a Studio, taught by Mercer Aplin, participants explored another creative medium that can be easy to overlook: sound.
Sound is doing an enormous amount of emotional work in a performance, Aplin explained. A door creak can make a hallway feel unsettling. The same image of someone walking down a hallway can become a comedy, thriller or tragedy depending on what the audience hears.
“When sound is done well, it's invisible,” Aplin said. “You don't think ‘what a great door creak’; you just feel uneasy.”
Participants explored how music, sound effects and voice acting work together to create a story. In Foley sessions, they created sound effects themselves, discovering just how much imagination can be involved in building a world the audience never sees.
“There’s a moment in every one of these projects — usually in the first Foley (sound effects creation) session — where a student shakes a cookie sheet, hears thunder come through the monitors, and their whole understanding of media changes,” Aplin said.
For Marge, who traveled a considerable distance to attend GPU with her grandchildren, the chance to explore something new together is part of what keeps bringing her back.
“This is our third year, and we've had so many different varieties of classes,” she said. “It’s fun to see our grandkids exploring these different classes, and which ones that they pick.”
This year, that exploration included sound, voice acting and storytelling.
For Marge’s grandson, Barrett, the experience sparked an interest in a new creative area.
“I had so much fun here,” he said. “I learned so many new things, and I just love studying the audio and voice acting.”
Curiosity has no age limit
Whether participants were sketching a sculpture or turning a cookie sheet into thunder, CLA’s GPU classes offered something beyond a finished project. They gave grandparents and grandchildren a chance to learn by doing and to learn alongside each other.
Aplin sees sound as a particularly good example of that shared experience.
“A grandparent and a twelve-year-old are equally qualified to figure out what the dining car of a train sounds like,” Aplin said. “Nobody has more authority over imagination.”
At Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts, that spirit of curiosity extends far beyond GPU, encouraging students of all ages to keep exploring, creating and learning throughout their lives.