Sophie Erb is on a European excursion and she's really enjoying the culture. She walks practically everywhere, hikes quite often, and the accessibility of public transportation makes the community feel really close. She's taking AP art history and currently studying the Renaissance. She just finished writing a paper on Mannerism, and in particular, a piece by Pontormo and Andrea del Sarto. She's headed to Florence to make a presentation about this piece and spend four days in museums and galleries with her class. In art class, she's learning how to paint, improving her graphite skills, and developing her ink work and says the architecture in Europe has definitely informed her work. She spent the Christmas break in Rome with family.