~ u By Madie McGuire Senior art major Hayden Rickett gained the title "apprentice" during a two-month stay in Florence, Italy, working under a 70-year-old artisan named Giuliano Ricchi. Rickett's low for art stemmed back to his childhood, but it was not until his third year into his major that he discovered his passion and talent for working with metals. This interest was then carried over to his semester abroad in Italy during spring 2015. The director of Harding Uni,·ersity in Florence (HUF), Robert Shackelford, took the group to visit local artisans on a free day. Rickett found himself in a residential area at a small shop tucked a,rny from the ci~; where the equipment the artisan used was over 100 years old. \ \'hile fotening to Ricchi talk in Italian about his passion in metal pre sing, Rickert's friends on the trip pre sed him to pursue an apprenticeship with the talented artisan. HUF ended and Rickett decided to take a summer art class on a whim at the Art Center of Little Rock, Arkansas. The class specialized in ring-making, and he fell in love with it. He started gathering his own materials when the class ended. "I got a torch and fuel tanks, which [was] just crazy," Rickett said. "I didn't even know how to work them, so I thought I might blow everything up." The next semeste1~ Rickett did an independent study on metal working and thought more seriously about pursuing a career in it. He recalled the artisan in Florence and reached out to Shackelford to see if there was a chance he could work under him. Within a week, Shackelford emailed back. "Giuliano Ricchi of the Ditta Checchijust called," Shackelford said. "He said yes! I know you "ill learn a lot from him and his partner. It \I-ill be a great experience for you." \ \'ithout contacting Ricchi directly, due to the language barrier, Rickett threw together housing plans and a plane ticket and headed to Florence. "I got offthe plane having no idea vvhat I was getting myself into," Rickett said. Chair of the art department Daniel Adams said Rickett's studio and history classes prepared him to be successful during his apprenticeship. ·:L\11 of his art courses served to equip him with hand skills and a discerning eye to see and create great design," Adams said. The very first day in the shop Ricchi showed him exactly what to do. \ \1thout any familiar words, Rickett started learning the art by watching the master. ''I would go home every day and write down words that I heard him say over and over," said Rickett. Ricchi's main focus was metal pressing, so Rickett took carvings he designed on a block of steel and th n pressed them through an ancient machine ·with a hand crank onto their preferred medium of metal. ·'He told me to make a nameplate, so I had my own spot in the shop," Rickett said. "He told people when they would come in that 'his apprentice did these' when showing some of the work." After a summer working under a master metal worker, Rickett found a focus in the field of art, but also noticed the unlimited possibilities that could come with such a skill. Senior Hayden Rickett spent two months of summer 2016 in Florence, Italy, studying under Giuliano Ricchi, a 70-year-old artisan. He discovered his love for art with metals while he studied aborad at Harding Unversity in Florence (HUF) in spring 2015. I Photo courtesy of Grant Schol
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