After finishing up the fall semester, David Richmond, associate professor of art, will be making his way to Australia where he will do his sabbatical in the spring.

“I want to travel [to Australia] and study the art form of the Aborigines’ artists because it interests me,” Richmond said.

Richmond finds the Aborigines’ art fascinating and has been interested for quite some time.

“When I was in college, the art history that I found especially interesting was the African art,” said Richmond. “I studied it through undergraduate and graduate school.”

While the cost of traveling can become expensive, Richmond already has an idea on how to fund his travels for the sabbatical.

“I’m going to try to get a Fulbright Fellowship to have all expenses paid to do my work,” said Richmond.

Although Richmond is originally from Iowa, he is excited to get away for awhile and begin his research for his sabbatical while working on a few projects of his own.

“I have a neat project,” said Richmond. “I’m creating art on the computer, and it’s very complex. I have this student written program, and it changes letter into a colored box. I can download any piece of literature and change any color of letter and create color patterns. Basically, it translates words into color.”

While in Australia, Richmond aspires to converse with Aborigines and artists to learn more about their culture and work.

“I like to consider it my search for the Holy Grail,” said Richmond. “I want to ask these people why they create art. I want to explore that part of imagery and the tradition along with it.”

Although Richmond will soon be traveling abroad, he believes that his work while on sabbatical will contribute to his professional growth and development.

“I feel that during a sabbatical I will be able to take some serious time to analyze the direction that my artistic expression is moving and better understand the artistic statements that I am involved with,” said Richmond. “As I am better at understanding my art, I will be better at practicing my art well.”