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developmental opportunities and cultural benefits to its students, faculty, and community members. AIR programs are as variable as they are numerous, with diverse missions and goals, structures, durations, and benefits. They naturally reflect the unique character, culture, strengths, needs, and limitations of their host institutions and participants.

In 2019, when Hackley’s AIR program was being researched and developed, the news of a long-awaited building on the Hilltop devoted entirely to the arts had just been confirmed, and so Hackley’s new residency program was shaped by the exciting prospect of expanding new arts facilities and programming. In addition to fabulous new art studios, rehearsal rooms, theaters, and exhibition spaces, the Center for the

Creative Arts and Technology will have space reserved solely for resident artists while on campus for their residencies.

Future visiting visual artists will have studio space to ply their own craft, visiting musicians and composers will have space to write and rehearse their own music, and technology residents will have access to ample digital classrooms and a new fully equipped digital media lab. Theater residents, of course, will be able to teach and perform in a 550-seat auditorium, as well as a 100-seat Black Box theater. The new arts building will not only be a spectacular home and setting within which Hackley’s young residency program can grow, but it will no doubt attract the strongest residency candidates.

Since its launch in 2020, artists and performers from across the country have inquired about Hackley’s Creative Residency Program. After completing an online application, candidates are preliminarily reviewed by members of Hackley’s visual arts, performing arts, and computer science departments before finalists are interviewed. After a final candidate has been selected, the new resident works with the respective department to plan the details of their residency: timing, duration, and the instructional direction their residency will take.

Hackley takes an organic approach to its residency planning, allowing each candidate to shape their residency according to their expertise, background, and creative interests. Some residents design projects for a specific grade level, while others prefer to work with students across all grade levels and divisions.

The Visual Arts department’s first resident, Manhattan illustrator Jenny Kroik, shared her expertise through a project that introduced Middle School student artists to the process of storyboarding and character development. Performing Arts resident master drummer Vince Cherico conducted drumming and rhythm exercises with students in grades 5 to 12. Cellist Jeremy Harman held improvisation workshops across divisions and treated students to a wonderful performance of one of his own compositions. And, using Meisner-based repetition exercises, Elizabeth Anne Smith helped acting students deepen their focus in order to better convey their emotions on stage.

Recent Computer Science residents have focused on a broad range of technology topics and skills. Former Hackley parent Diana Freed from Cornell Tech addressed issues of security and privacy, health technology, and social computing. During his visit to the Hilltop, Erich Tusch explored neuroscience research in health care with students. A presentation by Paul Pizzolato ’21 examined the use of Python to write programs that map current and potential economic trends. Future residents will focus on topics of computer science programming and design that more closely align with current curricula.

As explained by Melissa Tranchida, Computer Science Chair and Director of Instructional Technology: “Our students explore programming languages as they design their own video games and digital arts projects, develop apps, and even assemble miniature robots. We aim to create opportunities for our students to closely connect with programming logic and UI design. Creative Arts Residencies make such connections possible.”

Recent Visual Arts resident Thomas Doyle—a true “interdisciplinary” artist whose sculptures will be exhibited this year in London, Paris, and New York— began his residency last May by visiting the Hilltop and presenting his work to Middle and Upper School student artists. During the summer, in collaboration with Hackley art teacher Sarah Coble, Thomas planned a project for the fall that challenged Middle and Upper School artists to explore and build their own miniature worlds. The resulting sculptures, produced over the course of several months and critiqued by Thomas at the end of the first trimester, are wonderfully imaginative and intricately constructed. They both reflect and challenge our preconceptions of reality and the familiarity of our everyday world.

Asked about his months-long sculpture collaboration with Thomas Doyle, ninth grade artist Alexander Chorny responded: “My favorite part was the freedom Mr. Doyle gave us to create our own stories, and the really good advice he offered that helped me develop my ideas and my project.”

Thanks to the creative residents—including talented and diverse artists, musicians, actors, and computer scientists—who have shared their experience, knowledge, and joy for the creative process, Hackley’s students have an opportunity to deepen their already rich experience with the arts. And, not surprisingly, student, faculty, and resident feedback has been universally and enthusiastically positive.

“It has been wonderful to see the students digging deeper into the creative process, analyzing and articulating their ideas during our critique with Thomas, and then revisiting and revising their projects afterward,” observed Sarah Coble during Thomas Doyle’s residency. About his time with students in Hackley’s art studios this fall, Thomas Doyle shared, “What a great experience to get to see Hackley’s art department up close and what Hackley students are capable of. Very impressive!”

As construction on the Center for the Creative Arts and Technology progresses, and with a vibrant new Creative Residency Program in place, the Computer Science, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts departments could not be more excited about what the future holds for our programs and students. The sky is truly now the new limit for the arts on the Hilltop!

About the Author

Greg Cice has been Chair of the Visual Arts Department for 21 of his 23 years at Hackley. A painter first, he is also a builder and carpenter, as well as a ski race, tennis, and baseball enthusiast and coach. He has shared these interests with Hackley students during his years on the Hilltop. His daughter, Lene, attends Windward School, and his son, Bode, is a current Hackley ninth grader.

On The Importance Of Bats And The Benefits Of Bat Houses

Mounted 15 feet above Hackley’s new apiary, steps away from the new fruit orchard and Pollinator Garden, our bat houses provide a safe place for an often misunderstood mammal. This new installation creates unique outdoor education opportunities for our students while protecting our local bats.

As crucial natural pest controllers, bats consume trillions of crop-damaging and diseasespreading insects each year. Sadly, the populations of New York’s nine native bat species have plummeted since the discovery of a deadly fungus affliction in 2006. The good news is that bat populations are rebounding with the installation of bat houses across the state. Bat houses are primarily used as nurseries for raising bat pups. Bats do not hibernate in the houses during winter, preferring instead locations like caves that offer even temperatures. Three of New York’s bats migrate south each year to the warmer states and continue their beneficial consumption of insect pests.

Hackley has two four-chambered bat houses, back-to-back, that together can comfortably hold up to 400 bats and their young in the spring and summer months. It usually takes a few years for bats to find and occupy a bat house. Hackley should start to see bats in the bat houses by 2024.

By Rozanne Rosenberg Assistant Director of Communications