There is more to most of the Williston faculty than meets the eye. For nine teachers, it’s their hidden artistic talents.
On Thursday, May 2, the first Williston Faculty Art show opened in the Grubbs Gallery. The event, “Hidden Talents,“ was curated by senior Glede Wang. All faculty members, except art teachers, were allowed to submit pieces. Of the 11 faculty members who responded to Glede’s initial search for artists, nine decided to participate in the exhibition.
There will be an artists’ reception from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 11, before the show closes on May 14.
AP Government and Economics teacher Peter Gunn submitted his woodworking pieces. The “beautiful and useful” wood he used to craft his art came from trees on campus, his property in New Hampshire, and his parents’ farm in New York.
“Each piece of wood possesses unique dimensions,” Gunn said. “I try to reveal it in simple objects—boards, bowls, clocks, and bottle stoppers. I hope that my work shows a little of the wonder of trees and why I care for them.”
Head of the Math Department, Joshua Seamon, entered origami art. His love for origami started when he was a child.
“My parents gave me my first origami books when I was five,” he explained. “I immediately took to the logic, beauty, fun, Zen, and necessary manual dexterity of the paper folding arts.”
Seamon loves sharing his “passion for folding,” and has a goal to cover the entire earth with paper cranes, which symbolize healing, love, hope, and peace.
Glede came up with the idea for a faculty art show last year, but her idea changed once she started getting submissions.
“I originally wanted to do a funny art show with doodles and sketches from faculty during finals, so students can come, laugh, and relax,” she said. “When I did it this year, however, it became a serious art show with exceptional work.” Glede said she is really happy with the quality of faculty art work; she didn’t expect there to be so many exceptional submissions.
“I am surprised by the excellence of these faculty/staff artists’ work,” she said. “I never realized how talented they are. I believe that everyone can be an artist, and that there is always something to appreciate about everyone.” Glede is graduating this year, and hopes the tradition carries on.
This article originally ran in The Willistonian.