SPS Today: Embracing the Artistic Process
Crumpacker Gallery Fine Arts Faculty Exhibition
The work of St. Paul’s School fine arts faculty members is on display at the Crumpacker Gallery this spring. The show, featuring the department’s seven members, opened with a reception on April 5, and will be on display through June 1. One of the guiding principles of the St. Paul’s School Fine Arts program is to ensure that teachers, just as students, remain involved in the artistic process. All members of the department are practicing artists, who work alongside the students they teach and outside of the classroom – on their own creative endeavors – when their schedules allow.
According to an introductory statement for the show, written by Arts Department Chair and Crumpacker Gallery Director Colin Callahan, “By remaining involved in the creative artistic process, we find that we can learn new and exciting techniques and methods, while also leading our students by example. And, since art is not private, a public exhibit is an essential part of the artistic process. For this reason, we rotate the gallery exhibition schedule and display walls in the fine arts building to include the artwork of students, visiting artists, and our fine arts faculty.”
This current exhibition of faculty art includes work done in glass, ceramics, painting, drawing, video, and photography by fine arts faculty members Colin Callahan, Brian Schroyer, Rebecca Soderberg ’94, Leigh Kaulbach ’08, Nanda Soderberg, Charlie Lemay, and Gabriel Avis. Along with the artwork, department members assembled text panels of phrases, thoughts, and advice that they, as artists and teachers, consider when working in their own studios or with their students.
“Whether they be deeply philosophical or humorous,” Callahan’s introduction continues, “they are all snippets of wisdom, reminding us of some of the key aspects of the artistic process.”