13 minute read
A BEAT for the New Generation
An Interview with SKS Visual Arts Chair and Woodcut Artist John Carruthers
Artist, musician, academic, historian. These are only a few words that describe the multi-faceted creative force that is SKS’ Visual Arts Chair John Carruthers. Perhaps none conveys his quirky, quiet manner, his passion for teaching and learning, and his student-centric approach better than “educator.” For more than 12 years, Mr. Carruthers has been developing the creative skills of his students and pursuing his own artistic passions, further enhancing SKS’ reputation as a sought-out school for the arts.
Q: Tell us about your background and past influences that inspired you.
“I was born and raised in Westchester, New York. A precocious kid, I loved to copy out the illustrated dictionary–drawings and all. We had a set of encyclopedias called World of Wonder from the 1920s. I loved it because it was all about “the future” from a 1920s perspective–the miracle of air travel, automobiles, electricity, science, and industry! It had great old photographs, and it seemed important and anachronistic at the same time.
My favorite thing to read was the New York Times Book Review. For book reports, I covered Shakespeare. I guess I just loved learning and education in general. I also went to summer school for fun–more science, more history! I read monster magazines, DC comics, and Mad magazine. One day, I was practicing my hero Jimmy ‘JJ’ Walker’s funky walk. My mom asked my uncle Harry, who is an artist, “What’s wrong with him?” Harry said, “It’s OK, he’s just a beatnik.” I said, “What’s a beatnik?” Little did I know that would be my life’s path.
In high school, my main interests were books and music–Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Edgar Allen Poe, SE Hinton (who I read over and over), music-oldies, and classic rock of the day. Then, punk rock happened. Pow! Two friends and I went head over heels for it. We would go record shopping in New York City and walk past CBGB, the legendary music club where many of the top bands of the 1970s and ’80s performed.
When it came time to pick a college, I chose Fordham. At first, I was taking liberal arts courses and hanging out on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I switched to an art major and went to Fordham Lincoln Center where I saw ’80s graffiti artist Keith Haring drawing in the subway! Living in the Bronx shaped me tremendously. I liked to say, ‘I was raised in Westchester, but I grew up in The Bronx.’ I had an apartment in the famous Little Italy section on Arthur Ave. and a great cohort of friends. We were all in bands and had our own little ‘gang.’”
Q: What stands out in your mind as a factor that shaped who you are today?
“Every teacher has that ‘one teacher’ story. Mine is Ms. Tripodi, my 8th grade teacher. I went to a small Catholic school. It was good, but it didn’t offer much art or have lessons that were really inspiring me. On the first day of 8th grade, Ms. Tripodi was playing Simon and Garfunkel music in class (pretty hip for the time), and the first lesson was poetry. That really made me pay attention again.
We had a school newsletter where my poem was on the front page one month. That made me realize that I could do something I was passionate about and have it seen by everyone. It got me started writing and drawing, knowing that I could possibly reach people with it. Another big influence was my job at B. Dalton Bookstore on 6th Ave. and 8th St.–the center of Greenwich Village, and the center of the universe as far as I was concerned.
While there, I met just about every famous New Yorker and legendary hipster including Andy Warhol who came in with Jean-Michel Basquiat, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg; and all the beats who were still around like John Waters, Cousin Brucie, Jules Feiffer, Quenton Crisp, William Kunstler, Debbie Harry, David Byrne, Marianne Faithfull, Laurie Anderson…the list goes on. I designed the display windows and was given free rein to promote any book I wanted to Charles Bukowski, Ray Carver, Richard Price, Nick Tosches, Annie Liebovitz, etc. It truly was a dream job for me back then.
At that time, the New York City art scene was really big and exciting–the Pictures Generation: Robert Longo, Cindy Sherman, Julian Schnabel, Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer. These artists were just coming into their own, and all the galleries were on West Broadway in Soho and Tribeca. It was no big deal for art students like myself to go to those galleries, walk into openings, and talk to whoever was there. It was pretentious and glamorous as the best art is, but it was still very inviting and ‘street level.’ I feel very lucky to have lived in the city at that time.”
Q: How did you come to teach at SKS?
“I had decided to dedicate my life to music and art, but for a ‘day job,’ I was working in publishing for Viking Penguin (called Penguin USA at that time) as a sales rep. Then, the whole industry consolidated, so I ended up at much smaller publishers. During that time, I also got my MFA from The New York Academy of Art and I was still a working musician. It was then that I had the ‘classic mid-life crisis’ and decided to move out of Brooklyn and into a small cabin in western Orange County. This brought me to enroll at SUNY New Paltz where I got my New York State Art Teacher Certification. My first teaching job was at the New York Military Academy (NYMA) from 2006-2008. While at NYMA, I heard about SKS, of course, and decided that was where I really wanted to work.
After NYMA, I took a few teaching positions in public middle schools in Brooklyn and Yonkers (2008-2010) which ended when the recession hit. Since 2004, I had been teaching during the summers on Nantucket, so I stayed there and taught at the Artists Association and The Boys and Girls Club. In 2011, I moved back to New York City and began working for the NYCBOE again and got an MS in Education from Mercy College where I taught art history. I always had my eye on SKS, so when I saw an art teacher position posted, I sent in my resume. As luck would have it, Amanda Penecale was the Art Department Chair at that time. I knew her from teaching on Nantucket, so I got the interview, and thankfully, the job!”
Q: Please express your vision and your personal mission at SKS.
“In most of my other art teaching positions, I was fulfilling a requirement. I wanted to work at SKS because it was known for its strong Arts Department and I wanted to be at a school where the arts were an integral part of the curriculum. I also wanted to be at a school that emphasizes each student’s individual needs and interests. I felt a little ‘lost in the shuffle’ myself in high school, so I wanted to work where I could ask a student what they were interested in doing, and then do my best to guide them toward that goal. I’ve also tried to build a department that is flexible enough to accommodate different students’ interests while developing a scope and sequence that teaches students the foundations of art.
As my students progress through each course, I gradually hand over the ability to make their own decisions about the content of their pieces. I want the students to be confident enough to say ‘I want to do this’ and have a department that says ‘Let me show you how to do it.’
To that end, we have a lot of activities, trips, college visits, and discussions about the various applications of their skills. Those applications may be in creative industries, or they may be in medicine, psychology, computer science, business, or the liberal arts. I think it’s our job to broaden our students’ horizons so they understand that creativity is everywhere, and it’s a career-oriented skill.
I’ve had students go on to study in many different college programs from costume design to art therapy, product design, fashion design and marketing, character design and animation, as well as fine art, illustration, and graphic design. I’ve also had students go on to study medicine, psychology, and law. I’d like to think that our process helped them make those decisions.”
Q: How do you feel Storm King, and in particular the Arts, have progressed over the years?
“Since I’ve been here, we have expanded the number of courses and subjects available to students. I was the chair of the scheduling committee where we came up with the semester system we are now using. That increased the overall number of classes students can take per year (from 4 to 6, or up to 8 for an ambitious schedule). Besides the regular classes, we have added photography and digital art, and more high-level classes in fashion and fine art. We’ve also done independent projects with students during their senior year if they want to expand on a particular passion. We have expanded the number of exhibition opportunities. Besides our usual all-school art show during Arts Weekend in April, we do shows with Orange County Community College, Garrison Art Center, Scholastic National competition (in which we have won quite a few gold and silver awards), a congressional competition (that we won in 2022), and a sculpture exhibit featuring the large outdoor sculptures we create in Builder’s Club. These are great opportunities for students to show their work, engage with the local community, and learn all that goes into putting on a professional exhibit.”
Q: What have been the most memorable moments of your time at SKS?
“When we entered the Congressional art competition and Charlotte Ji ’23 won, she had her work put on display in the halls of Congress! We’ve also had great opportunities to meet professionals in the field, most recently with SKS Trustee Richard Grossman ’79, who has arranged for students to visit blue chip art galleries and visit professional artists in their New York City studios to learn about the business of art. We also had some great trips by partnering with Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) including a visit to the offices of Conde Nast, and a tour of the Louis Vuitton exhibit in downtown Manhattan. We’ve also visited many of the great New York City museums, the Bronx Zoo to draw animals, Hudson Valley MoCA for figure drawing, artist studio visits in Newburgh, Mass MoCA, and more.
All that said, my most memorable moments occur when I see students make real breakthroughs, either by mastering a new skill, or making a real personal statement with their artwork that they are proud of. That’s what it’s all about!”
Q: Please elaborate on your passions–woodcutting, Nantucket, and anything else.
“I have quite a few passions which include travel, history, music, art, and western wear! I fell in love with woodcuts through the work of the German Expressionists of the 1920s and the Sturm und Drang Romanticism of the time. It really struck the ‘eternal chord’ in me, but, I wanted to make it mine. So, although I took many art courses in my life, I never studied traditional woodcut techniques. I wanted to do that on my own and develop my own style. I try to combine the ‘German and Austrian’ style with American psychedelic posters of the ’60s, and the Golden Age of Illustration I loved as a kid (the Howard Pyle Brandywine School).
My parents have a house on Nantucket, and I have spent summers there since 2003 teaching art and showing my work with the Nantucket Artists Association. It’s been an amazing experience. It’s a very supportive arts scene, and it’s inspiring to show and work amongst such great artists. I was awarded the Randy Goldberger teaching award there in 2013 and 2023, the mixed media award in 2014, and was the honoree at their annual summer gala in 2023.
Music is another passion of mine. I played in bands throughout the ’80s, ’90s and into the early 2000s. and put out a lot of recordings. I got to tour the United States a few times, play in Ireland, and play some dream gigs on large stages in my home town of New York City. I still enjoy playing banjo on the streets of Nantucket in the summer and in Central Park. I play almost every day, and I’m proud to say I’ve finally moved from ‘intermediate’ to ‘pretty good.’ It’s a lifelong pursuit that I would recommend to anyone.
Travel is yet another passion. Every year, my wife and I go to Europe to see the great cities and indulge in our love of history. We read and discuss a lot of the Late Antiquity period, and it’s beyond thrilling to then go and see the cathedrals, castles, palaces, and art that we read so much about.
When it comes to fashion, I’ve always loved ‘cowboy clothes.’ While stuck in my New York City apartment during the pandemic, I stumbled across various western wear sites online and bought a lot of ‘dream outfits.’ Perhaps I went a little overboard, but the outcome is really this–During a dark time, I was reminded to live in the present. Every morning I look through my wardrobe and decide ‘What’s it going to be today?’ it reminds me that every day is a special blessing; that it should be celebrated and I will be ‘dressed accordingly.’”
Q: How do your other passions complement what you do at SKS?
I recently did an interview with “N” magazine, a lifestyle magazine for Nantucket, about my work methods and my history on the island. During the interview, I realized how important being an educator is to my art practice and vice-versa. As I teach the fundamentals and help students grow their individual voice, I take those conversations and skills back into my own work. Many times, I will put a piece I’m working on alongside my students’ art during our critiques in class. I value their feedback because it’s straightforward and honest, and it helps them see that all artists are in the same boat, no matter the age or skill level. If you do art, you’re an artist, and that gives you a voice amongst your peers.
Like all subjects, art teaches definable skills in the making of art and in the articulation of your ideas, both written and verbal. It also teaches you how to be creative–how to draw on your own experiences and the cultures around you to make a strong, personal statement. I also think that SKS, with its diversity of students and strong mentorship from its teachers, gives students an incredible pool to draw from for inspiration and agency.”
