Creative Arts

The Power of a Portrait

Connecting a traditional portraiture assignment with the Derryfield core value of belonging, art teacher Becky Barsi gave her upper school Spring semester photography students the following prompt: What can a photograph reveal about someone’s personality, background, work, hobbies, or passions? Students were asked to invite a member of the Derryfield community to be their subject. In addition to one final portrait composition, they were instructed to write a profile on their subject.

Two of the objectives of the assignment were “take a risk in meeting people and learning about their backgrounds/experience” and “build a visual and written profile of your subject that celebrates their identity and in turn helps to create a sense of belonging within the Derryfield community.”

The process involved three steps: selecting the subject, completing an interview with the subject, and photographing the subject. Barsi reflected that the interview component of the project proved to be the most challenging for the students, as it pushed many of them outside their comfort zone. However, the skills gained by preparing for an interview (creating an outline, drafting questions, and practicing mock interviews) will undoubtedly be tools the students will continue to use throughout their lives. Elias Kanteres ’24 chose to interview Jenny Boesch, Director of Academic Support (photo below). “I chose Ms. Boesch because she’s one of my favorite teachers at Derryfield and is always helpful…and also because I knew that she had done some interesting stuff before Derryfield, and I wanted to learn more about it, and share that information.”

In his final profile, Kanteres wrote of Boesch, “From an early age, academics, sports, and nature have played a major role in the life of Jenny Boesch. Born and raised in rural New Hampshire, it was the perfect environment to explore her interest in animals and the outdoors…In high school she was on the equestrian team, and when the owner of the horse she rode passed away, she was given the horse, as the owner’s family knew it would be in good hands with her.”

Boesch said of Kanteres, “He took time to photograph me in a variety of settings and the photo he chose was one that captured both my personality and the setting that I work in. I was touched that he wanted to use me as a subject since I have not taught him directly since ninth grade. When interviewing me, Elias had many good questions prepared, but I think I surprised him a couple of times as I answered questions with information he did not know.”

ON THE STAGE

Creative Arts Department co-chair Bill Westenberg reflected on one of the most magical parts of life at Derryfield, student theatre productions.

Twelve Angry Jurors

The Derryfield Theatre Company’s upper school production of Twelve Angry Jurors drew large crowds as word of its excellence spread quickly in the halls. The opening performance brought in over 200 people. The excitement in the audience was palpable and the twelve actors were delighted to receive a standing ovation.

Mamma Mia

The Derryfield School Theater Company proudly presented a fan favorite, Mamma Mia! The enthusiastic crowds cheered, sang, and danced their way through every performance. The immensely talented cast was honored with standing ovations at each showing.

Shrek, Jr.

The Derryfield Middle School Players were back on stage for the first time since the fall of 2019 with their production of Shrek Jr. Led by eighth graders Jack Lewis, Audrey Labbe, and Marshall Hartshorn, the cast brought the fan-favorite characters to life for the appreciative crowd. A great time was had by all who attended.

PROFILE: Ruby Amorim

In her Senior Moment, a speech delivered during community meeting, Ruby Amorim ’22 talked about her lifelong interest in creating art, and how Derryfield helped her to nurture and grow her talents.

“From doodling on scrap paper to creating large conceptual paintings, art has always been a huge part of my life and the way I interact with the world. In many ways, being an artistic person is quite literally what defines me. And at Derryfield, I got to experience a community that values passion and constantly encourages it, which is something I will always be grateful for.”

During her elementary and middle school years, Amorim attended public school in Manchester. Extracurricular classes were assigned via a random generator. Amorim lamented that in eighth grade, she was randomly assigned to computer science, “So I never got to explore my creativity, something I was passionate about in middle school.”

Amorim’s introduction to Derryfield came through Breakthrough Manchester, where she spent three summers on the DS campus in rigorous academic courses. She went on to apply for admission, and came to Derryfield as a ninth grader.

At Derryfield, Amorim not only progressed as an advanced art student, she also grew into a student leader. Whether as president of the Art Club, or coordinating a mural activity for visitors from the Manchester Boys and Girls Club, or leading a Bob Ross painting class as a fundraiser for Voices of the Children, Amorim, in her own understated way, has been at the forefront of art activity at Derryfield for the past four years.

During the summer of 2022, Amorim returned to Breakthrough as a summer teaching fellow, teaching 8th grade English literature. Teaching might be in her future, although her primary aspiration is to be an illustrator. Amorin is attending the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, where she will study for five years in a combined BFA/BA program.

Instrumental Ensembles

Our instrumental ensemble students were thrilled to be performing back on stage—inside!—this year. What made their concert performances even more remarkable was that the majority of the pieces were original arrangements written by Derryfield students.

SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS

The Visual Arts Department was thrilled to celebrate the success of 24 student artists (a total of 51 winning pieces) and 15 student writers (a total of 24 winning pieces), all of whom received recognition from the New Hampshire Scholastic Art Awards. One of our country’s most competitive juried art competitions for students in grades 7-12, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the championships of student visual art and writing. Gold Key award winners from Derryfield were: Ruby Amorim ’22, Jackie Connors ’24, Lily Handwerk ’24, Ben Rosenthal ’24, and Jason Wang ’22.

Gold Key Award Recipients

Photography: Ruby Amorim ’22 “Bear in Bed”

Digital Art: Jason Wang ’22 “Dear Glasses-less World 1/4”

Photography: Lilly Handwerk ’24 “Shadows”

Photography: Ben Rosenthal ’24 “American Industry”

Photography: Jackie Connors ’24 “Cavalier”