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The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Recognition is given in 28 categories in arts and writing for students in grades 7 to 12. Regional Gold Key awardees are under consideration for national awards. This year’s Williston Northampton School awardees are: Anita Hua ’22 (pictured...

By Kate Lawless We’re looking forward to welcoming four artists this year as part of the Grum Project, our artist-in-residence series. Read more about the program here. Composer Geoff Hudson will be composing a choral piece written by Williston students. He recently completed a piece called “Passion for the Planet,” addressing climate change through music. Choreographer, director, and...

During its remote 179th Commencement ceremony, broadcast on May 23, 2020, Williston Northampton School announced the names of its senior academic award winners. Please note, award winners in grades 9, 10, and 11 will be announced during the 2020-21 school year. The senior awards are as follows: History and Global Studies The A. L. HEPWORTH...

During a recent assembly, Williston Northampton School’s Art Department Chair Natania Hume recognized four students for their devotion to and excellence at their respective arts disciplines. Britanie Acurio ’20, AP Studio Art Brittanie has taken her love of her hometown and brought a serious amount of New York attitude and energy to her work in...

During a six-day residency as part of the Grum Project, a visiting artist series funded by a generous alumna, Los Angeles-based artist Kiel Johnson worked with students to create a collection of unique cardboard trophies that celebrated victories both personal and humorous. “I did the dishes” reads the base of a mock-up of one trophy,...

Imagine constructing a miniature city out of cardboard. Or a whole band’s worth of instruments. How about a life-sized boat? Or a barnstorming airplane big enough to seat a pilot? Kiel Johnson, master of the crowd-sourced project, has made them all, and he’ll be on campus this month to create with students an installation called...

Four students were recognized for their excellence and hard work in the arts during a recent assembly. Dalina Nguyen ’21 for AP Studio Art Since day one, Dalina has shown consistency in the quality of her work and ability to manage her time. She carefully and thoughtfully creates each work of art in order for...

In her first few weeks on campus, Caroline O’Connor is already making a mark on this school both on and off the field. A first-year senior Caroline attended Hampshire Regional for her first three years of high school, then repeated her junior year at Northfield Mount Hermon. Tired of enduring hour-long rides to campus, Caroline...

Launched in the fall of 2016, the Grum Project is Williston’s five-year visiting artist program, which has featured artists in a variety of genres. Guests have included a Grammy-Award-winning multi-instrumentalist/ethnomusicologist, a poetry-slam champion, a photographer whose work explores social media, and a dancer-filmmaker transfixed on athleticism of baseball. Funded by a generous alumna from the...

A recent exposition of Williston Scholars projects revealed not only a wide range of topics, but an impressive depth of investigation. From a special type of polynomial, to the French New Wave movement in cinema, to the launch of a weather balloon that rose to 95,000 feet and swelled to four times its original girth...

A sneak peek at two of Williston’s many art offerings—and the work they’re inspiring AP Studio Art In AP Studio Art, students get a rigorous introduction to various techniques and media, then produce a series of works concentrating on one theme or concept. The class is co-taught by the three visual art teachers, and students...

Four students earned Working Artist awards at today’s assembly. The awards honor students who commit fully to the their artistic pursuit. The awardees are Maddie Elsea’19, theater; Glede Wang ’19, curation; Tucker Motyka ’22, music; Keyu Lu ’20, painting. Maddie directed and starred in the play Eurydice for her Williston Scholars Performing Arts project and...

Three students were recognized for their excellence and hard work in the arts during a recent assembly. They are Katie Han ’19 for visual arts, Celeb Stern ’19 for theater, and James Arcoleo ’19 for technical theater and music. Katie has exhibited hard work and dedication this trimester in AP Studio Art, according to her...

Richard Dec ’73 sees things in black and white. When you’re making linoleum cuts, that’s the way to convey an image. There’s a flat surface that takes ink, and the cut-away part that does not, yielding a result that can be as detailed as the maker has the skill to render. Dec has skill. His...

Exploring light in the darkness, Neil Grayson creates mesmerizing works that change before your eyes. For a recent exhibition at New York’s prestigious Eykyn Maclean gallery, Neil Grayson ’85 produced a series of paintings he calls Industrial Melanism. Executed in oil and metal on canvas in a trademark style the artist developed through years...

Each trimester, Williston Northampton School confersWorking Artist Awards upon its most dedicated student creators. At Assembly on November 7, Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair Natania Hume announced the awardees for the first trimester. Amanda Shen ’19 combines her keen visual and conceptual intellect with advanced art making skills. She consistently produces outstanding works of...

Williston’s Grum Project, a five-year artist-in-residence program funded by a generous alumna, enters its third year with a slate of artists involved in a variety of disciplines. Mark Guglielmo, a visual artist who creates photomosaics paired with audio recordings, begins the series. His most recent work depicts the lives of Cuban people before and after...

Several Williston Northampton School students were recognized in this year’s Massachusetts Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, joining around 4,000 honorees across the Commonwealth in the competition’s regional division. Simon Kim ’19 took two Silver Key awards for writing a humor piece, “The Declaration of Independence from the Atrocious Legacy of Homework: A Transcript,” and a...

Ceramic artist and teacher Matt Towers is a subversive potter. “I work with porcelain for its associations with correctness, good taste, and social hierarchy,” he said, setting up the contrast, “so that I may reinterpret these notions in my pots and sculptural vessels based upon my own personal sensibilities as well as the contemporary world...

The arts faculty at Williston Northampton School are not only teachers, but also are working artists. A show at the Grubbs Gallery from April 3 to May 2 will feature the work of painter Dan Roe, photographer Ed Hing ’77, tech theater designer Charles Raffetto, and potter and sometimes-printmaker (and arts department head) Natania Hume....