“One of the goals of the program is to expose students to art and culture,” explains Dumbach Scholars Program Director and Visual Arts Teacher Lesley Shifrin. “Through a deep appreciation of culture and the arts, the Dumbach Scholars Program promotes Renaissance learners who actively seek to nourish their talents and build diverse perspectives.”

On Friday, February 16, the Ramblers began their New York City adventure by diving into the arts scene and exploring a number of contemporary art galleries including the Jack Shainman Gallery, which represents contemporary artists from all over the world; the PACE Gallery, a leading art space with a number of international locations; C24 Gallery, which exhibits groundbreaking art by early to mid career artists; and the Lyons Weir Gallery, which champions highly conceptual contemporary art.

“This trip was such a fun experience,” says Westen Doran '19.  “We were able to see pieces of art from different eras we studied...and we were also able to see pieces of art that we had never studied before and learn more about current issues in our world.”

Saturday’s activities included a tour of  New York University and its acclaimed Tisch School of the Arts, a visit to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. That evening, the Dumbach Scholars headed to the Brooks Atkinson Theater for a performance of The Waitress.

On the finals two days of the trip, the group visit the world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Empire State Building. It was a special moment of reflection for students and faculty when they arrived at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza and prayed for Loyola alumnus Michael Lundeen ’82, who lost his life in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Sophia D’Agostino '19 admired the 9/11 Memorial and was excited to see the layout in person. “As art students, we studied similar memorials, and I think we all really appreciated the beautiful design of the plaza,” she says. “It was a powerful and touching experience to join hands in prayer with my fellow Ramblers at the spot of the disaster and in the presence of all the victim's names.”

The Dumbach Scholars is an enrichment program designed to enhance the curriculum of Loyola’s most gifted and motivated students.  Created in 1984, the Dumbach Scholars program has helped to prepare Loyola graduates for admission to the finest universities in the world.  

Cultural trips like this one support the program’s foundation in the humanities and the arts.

“This experience enabled students to build contextual awareness of significant monuments of art, architecture, history and culture by engaging with the sights, sounds, smells and density of New York City,” says Shifrin.

A special thank you to Visual Arts Chair Colleen Aufderheide, Assistant Principal for Student Services Charlie Heintz and Fine Arts and Foreign Language Teacher Jessica Harrington who chaperoned the trip. To learn more about the Dumbach Scholars program, click here.