Philadelphia Art Tour Designed for Student Travel Groups
Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, is also place where art flourishes. There are so many different choices for students of art when exploring this particular city. I have designed this selective tour of art venues in Philadelphia for students traveling for educational purposes. These five art institutions are important museums in Philadelphia that represent the diverse collection of art and artifacts available in the city. There are numerous private galleries and many other museums to visit in the Philadelphia area.Philadelphia Museum of Art
Located at the center of Ben Franklin Parkway, with a grand stepped entrance where Rocky ran to the top triumphantly, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the premiere place to view art in the city. The museum has over 200 galleries with furniture, sculpture, photography, funerary objects and more. The collection ranges from the art of antiquity to contemporary art. Many of the permanent exhibitions represent artists from different eras. Trip leaders may want to view the website for up-to-date information on current, rotating exhibitions on view during their visit.Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts is one of the most prestigious places to study art in the U.S. The focus is entirely on fine art, with an emphasis on painting, sculpting, and works on paper. The PAFA faculty is distinguished, working artists who exhibit regularly. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum has a substantial permanent collection and also displays rotating exhibitions of American artists. In May, the graduating class exhibits a senior show at the Museum and it is always well attended. Students interested in pursuing a career in art will find their visit to the PAFA enlightening.Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)
Part of the University of Pennsylvania, the Institute of Contemporary Art is a unique space where living artists exhibit their work. There is no permanent collection at the ICA, so the exhibitions are continually rotating. Here the student artist may encounter installation art, video art, traditional arts such as painting and sculpture and much more. The idea for the ICA originated with Holmes Perkins, an architecture professor who felt his students should be exposed to contemporary art. The ICA is a strikingly angled building with a unique design. Guided tours are available for student groups, with advance planning.The African-American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP)
The African-American Museum in Philadelphia is a relatively new museum, begun in 1976. The Museum has four galleries and an auditorium. AAMP is located on Arch Street, close to the Reading Terminal Market and near City Hall. Rotating exhibits at the AAMP touch upon African-American experiences and contributions to: home life, Civil Rights, arts and culture, entertainment, sports, medicine, architecture, politics, religion, law and technology. Exhibits cover the African-American experience from pre-colonial times through the present day. Interactive exhibits, educational programs designed for greater understanding of African-American cultural forms of expression, and living history presentations are some of the ways students are encouraged to engage with African-American art.Rodin Museum
Just across the Parkway from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of Philadelphia’s treasures — the Rodin Museum — beckons students to explore it. The gate to the Rodin Museum was designed by the master himself, Auguste Rodin. A statue of “The Thinker,” Rodin’s most famous work, sits near the entrance. Jules E. Mastbaum was a wealthy movie theater magnate who became interested in Rodin’s work after a visit to Paris when he began to collect over 100 works. The Museum collection includes bronzes, plasters, terra cotta, ground glass, drawings and more. Mastbaum made a gift of the Rodin Museum to the City of Philadelphia, and it was opened after his death, in November 1929. The interior of the Rodin Museum is being renovated and will be closed until late spring of 2012. Student groups are still encouraged to visit the gates, gardens, and grounds, where larger scale pieces Rodin created can be viewed.For student groups involved in the study and practice of art, Philadelphia has many high caliber museums to tour.Group leaders may also want to include historical destinations such as Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell to give students a broader perspective of the city.
Purchasing Affordable Health Care Insurance
There are a number of health care insurance providers around you, and the number is still rising. That is why, you, as the primary consumer of such products, are given a vast array of offers, products and rates for medical insurance. Because the economic situation around the world is very upsetting, it would be practical to insure your health, and of course, purchase an affordable medical insurance policy.Almost all governments around the world require employees to be covered by health care insurance policies. Most of these governments also offer subsidies to their constituents who apply for health insurances. Just like any other forms of insurances, medical insurances will also require the applicant to pay premiums, which can be in monthly, quarterly or annual terms, depending on the applicant’s spending power.Securing Affordable Health Care Insurance Is A MustMore people feel that securing affordable health care insurance is a must nowadays, but alas, they also find the task very ardent, tedious and sometimes stressful. The wide options in the market can sometimes lead to further pressure. Everyone wants to save on medical insurance premiums so the ability to find low-cost medical insurance deal would be a great advantage for anyone.Finding an affordable health care insurance does not require great talents. The name of the game would be reliability, resourcefulness and an innate skill to shop and compare prices. Patience would be required. The following is an easy and simple guideline on how you, the budget-conscious buyer of medical care insurance, could successfully secure and buy a low-cost health care insurance policy.• Talk to or ask your trusted health insurance agent or broker. People have their own jobs, and they become experts in their job fields. That is why agents are to be considered experts in medical care insurance policies, it is their job.• Visit the nearest health insurance provider’s office and ask for their rates or quotes. Just make sure that you would get premium rates or quotes from two or more insurers. This way, you could be able to compare prices and pick the cheapest offering.• Visit medical insurance companies’ Websites. This way, you would be able to save on transportation costs and your time would not be wasted. Through online inquiries, you could also easily compare health insurance rates and practically easily select the low-cost health insurance policy you have been looking for.• Check on government health offices and seek advice on discounts and subsidies provided by the government for citizens’ health insurances. Governments’ primary goal is to oversee and protect constituents’ welfare so it follows that they have flexible health insurances to people.You could also seek recommendations, referrals and advice from your friends and peers about their experiences in buying affordable health care insurance policies. Learn from their mistakes and follow their successful practices. Low-cost health insurances are, indeed, must-have nowadays. Health is wealth, but sometimes the inevitable comes. It is better to be prepared for possibilities than be left helpless and empty-handed when health situations come.
Crohn’s Disease Treatment – What Are the Options?
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory disease of the bowel that can cause your digestive tract to become inflamed. As a result it can be particularly unpleasant as it can cause sharp abdominal pains, vomiting, nausea, fever, weight loss and diarrhea. There is no magic cure, unfortunately, but there are a number of ways you can help treat this disease.Before you start any type of treatment, you should of course consult your doctor to both diagnose your condition and to discuss your treatment options. Once you’ve done that you will be given a number of different treatment options that will hopefully help to reduce the inflammation and make it a lot less uncomfortable.Most treatment options involves drugs of some kind, at least to start with. So you could be advised to try particular drugs such as sulfasalazine, mesalamine and corticosteroids. These are all anti-inflammatory drugs so many people get some relief from trying one of these medications.You may also be advised to take specific medication to help suppress the immune system. This will help prevent recurrent attacks of Crohn’s disease in the future. In addition, you may also be given antibiotics to help treat infections and reduce any bacteria that may be present in the intestine.Other medications may also be prescribed, depending on your own individual condition. So you may be given anti-diarrhoea medications to obviously help prevent diarrhoea, and specific dietary supplements to help counteract malabsorption.So there are a wide range of drugs that can be used to treat Crohn’s disease and very often it will be the case that different medications help different people, as not everyone responds in the same way to specific treatments, particularly as everyone’s condition is different and often unique to that individual.Most individuals will get some relief from drug treatment but for those that don’t, surgery may be recommended as a last resort. The objective of surgery is to remove the damaged part of the digestive tract and remove any scar tissue that may be present. This can often have a positive short-term effect for most people, but can also improve the condition long-term in some patients, although Crohn’s disease can return in other areas of the intestines later on.These are the main treatment options for Crohn’s disease but meanwhile you can make certain changes to your lifestyle in order to help treat the disease. These can include cutting out smoking, drinking more water, and making changes to your diet.Overall there is no outright cure for Crohn’s disease, but with the right treatment the disease can be effective managed and kept at bay, enabling you to live a relatively normal and comfortable life.