Four teens travel to Iceland

For most people, the word 'art' conjures images of paintings, sculptures and other mediums of creative expression.

But for two Penn graduates -- Josette Bonafino (CAS, '88) and Diane Burko (GFA, '69) -- the meaning of this word encompasses a much wider breadth.

To them, art can serve to unify groups of people and encourage cultural tolerance.

And in two weeks, when Bonafino and Burko will take four Philadelphia students on a week-long foray to Iceland, they will see whether their definition of 'art' holds true.

Sponsored by the Multicultural Youth eXchange -- a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that promotes cross-cultural awareness among youth -- the trip is geared toward bringing American and Icelandic students together through their interest in art.

"Our goal is really to give Americans intimate exposure to kids from another culture," MYX director and co-founder Bonafino said. "We feel that art is a good connector between people across cultures, and by putting these kids together through a shared interest, we felt that we'd have a better chance of allowing them to establish a relationship."

As the first in a series of MYX Youth Artist Exchanges -- which will run from June 13 to June 21 -- the trip will focus on the influence of Iceland's landscape on Icelandic culture and art. Throughout the week, the American and Icelandic students will take excursions to national parks, participate in landscape-drawing workshops and even have the chance to visit one of Iceland's geothermal hot springs.

Burko, a Philadelphia-based artist, will be traveling with the group to facilitate the students' creation of a collaborative piece of art at the end of the week. A photographer and muralist, Burko said that this final project will incorporate pictures of the Icelandic landscape.

"It will be very much an evolving piece based around [the students'] experiences over the week," Burko said. "Each person will do a module... which we'll ultimately put together to form one big montage of the experience."

The final piece of artwork will be displayed first in an art gallery in Reykjavik before being brought to the MYX Gallery in Philadelphia later this year.

According to Bonafino, the true proof of MYX's mission will surface in the creation of this synergetic work of art.

"I'm really interested in seeing how this art experiment turns out and seeing how effective art really is in connecting across cultures," Bonafino said.

The four Philadelphia teenagers participating in the Youth Exchange all have an interest in art, whether through taking classes in school or pursuing it as a hobby. Two students will be traveling to Iceland on scholarships funded by MYX.

"I would like to become more in tune with the rest of the world, instead of thinking about America all the time," Nazareth High School Senior Kassandra Bankovich said. "We are not the only ones out there."

Catholic High School Junior Mike Trihn agreed, adding that he hoped that the trip would widen his perspective.

"I would like to see how life is outside of the United States -- to see how lucky we might be to have something they might not," Trihn said. "Hopefully this trip will help me overall as a person."

The other two students who will be traveling to Iceland are Architecture and Charter High School for Architecture and Design sophomore Jamile Wilson and Central High School senior Amelia Lowe.

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