Summer 2017
NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF ART NEWS MAGAZINE
ON CAMPUS
CATALYST
IN THIS ISSUE: Creative Placemaking | Comic Arts at NHIA Peer into the 2017 Annual BFA Exhibition | The Evolution of the Sharon Arts Center Spread the news! Download this issue at nhia.edu/NHIANews
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ABOUT the COVER Art is a Form of Communication... ...THAT DATES BACK TO A TIME BEFORE LANGUAGE EXISTED. IT IS AS IMPORTANT TO US TODAY AS IT HAS BEEN FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. WE HANG IT IN OUR HOMES. WE SHARE FAVORITE BOOKS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. WE USE IT EVERY DAY IN THE FORM OF DISHES AND COFFEE CUPS. IT IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF LIFE—AND THE CORNERSTONE OF
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.
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When submitting their work for this issue’s cover, we asked our community of artists, students and alums to consider how art can communicate our feelings about the world around us, inspire change and incite action. The current state of affairs in our country sparks a wide range of opinions, but it is contentious times like these that fuel artists to create. The submissions we received were astounding. From ceramics to photography, artists responded with pieces that were edgy, thoughtful and impactful and that reflect our own thoughts and feelings while letting us get a glimpse into the mind of the artist. What you see highlighted here are just a few of those creations.
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Justin Gerace, Too much Juice Barb Wauchope, Now It’s Our Turn Scott Laursen, NoDAPL Lisa Cyr, Revelation of Darkness...a butterfly Sharleen Wesgan, Fight Like a Magical Girl Robert Shiels, Concord Statehouse Rosemary Mack, Annus Horribillus
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Images from left to right, top to bottom:
IN THIS
ISSUE
IN THE COMMUNITY
Creative Placemaking...4
FRIDAY 3/31 @NOON ONTHIS CAMPUS FRENCH HALL
Free Comics supplies last!!! Comic Arts while at NHIA..8
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ON CAMPUS
The Evolution of the Sharon Arts Center...12
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ON CAMPUS
Annual BFA Exhibition...17
From the President...........................................................................2 IN THE COMMUNITY Creative Placemaking.................................................................4 Manchester Cultural District...................................................7 ON CAMPUS Comic Arts at NHIA.........................................................8 Student Organizations Hummingbird Radio.............................................10 Ayris and Vault Gallery..........................................10 Student Stories: - Sustainability Course More Than a Class..........10 - #45on45 Assignment Reflection......................11 The Evolution of the Sharon Arts Center.............12 Bringing the World to Our Campus....................14 Annual BFA Exhibition........................................17 Student Graduation Address .............................23 A Tribute to Gary Samson and Bev Conway.........24 DID YOU KNOW? Member Highlight................................................28 Students and Alumni .............................................29 Distinguished Alum Award......................................30 Faculty and Staff.........................................................32
Justin Gerace ‛08, Too much Juice, 2017 Cone 6 Oxidation Fired Stoneware, left and cover (detail)
FROM THE
PRESIDENT The old adage goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The same could be said about the New Hampshire
Institute of Art. We’ve seen a great deal of change this past year, yet
we’ve remained steadfast in our mission — “to educate, engage, and empower through the arts.”
In the past year alone, our faculty have implemented an exciting new, interdisciplinary Foundations curriculum that prepares our
students with the skills and perspective they need to succeed in
today’s world. We’ve also launched a new dual-degree program
that allows aspiring art educators to obtain their Bachelor of Fine
Arts (BFA) and Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degrees, plus full
K-12 teacher certification in five years instead of the typical six, thus shaving one year of time — and cost — off the traditional path taken at most other colleges.
We’ve expanded our Career Services program three-fold with
scores of new student internships at a host of businesses and nonprofit institutions throughout New England. We’ve also ventured
into new territory with a bold new Creative Placemaking program launching this summer that brings together artists and designers with architects, urban planners, traffic engineers, economic
development officials, and community organizers to explore
how the arts and design can be a force for positive change and an engine of economic development for our cities and towns nationwide.
In this issue of Catalyst, you’ll see how we’ve been busy not only
renovating our gallery spaces on our Sharon Arts Center campus in Peterborough, but also working with our neighboring institutions and the City of Manchester to complete the first phase of an
ambitious vision that places NHIA’s Manchester campus at the center of the new Manchester Cultural District.
If you were fortunate enough to be one of the almost 1,000 people who attended this year’s BFA Exhibition opening you saw the
tremendous creativity and skills our graduating students possess.
And if you haven’t yet had that opportunity, I hope you’ll join us at
a future exhibition opening, visiting artist lecture, or special event, and experience for yourself how at NHIA we truly believe the arts can be a catalyst for positive change in our world.
Kent Devereaux
President & Chief Academic Officer New Hampshire Institute of Art
Summer 2017
ON CAMPUS
Background image: The Wild Blue by Marcus Greene, Undergraduate Fine Arts Faculty
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IN THE COMMUNITY
Creative
PLACEMAKING BY CHRIS ARCHER,
Associate Dean of Community Education
THE CONTEMPORARY ART LANDSCAPE IS INCREASINGLY POPULATED WITH PROJECTS THAT LOOK MORE LIKE URBAN RENEWAL THAN OUR CONVENTIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF AN ARTIST’S CREATION. COMBINING SOCIAL PRACTICE AND CIVIC ART IS BECOMING AN INCREASINGLY
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ACCESSIBLE AND ATTRACTIVE APPROACH
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FOR TODAY’S CREATIVE PRACTITIONERS. LIKEWISE, THE FIELDS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND URBAN PLANNING CONTINUE TO EVOLVE TOWARD INTEGRATING THE ARTS AND CULTURE INTO THEIR WORK, AN OVERLAP THAT REVEALS BOTH SHARED GOALS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR MAKING POSITIVE CHANGE IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
arts and culture to improve quality of life and economic opportunity in communities. Diverse voices are brought together to use their strengths and perspectives to create prosperous, livable spaces. Productive
IN THE COMMUNITY
Creative placemaking is an emerging field that uses
partnerships are built throughout the community, facilitating creative interactions between people, businesses, and physical locations. The result is a rich, creative culture to live in that produces tangible economic benefits, from expanding businesses to the cultivation and attraction of new commerce. Because of NHIA's commitment to furthering this exciting field, we recently partnered with the National Consortium for Creative Placemaking (NCCP) and launched a Certificate in Creative Placemaking program, designed and directed by Leonardo Vazquez, the executive director for the NCCP. As one of the only programs of its kind in the country, this 10-month low-residency program allows working professionals to take advantage of flexible online courses while gaining deep, practical knowledge from nationally recognized experts about creative placemaking. Our Manchester campus puts us in the heart of a unique environment, providing ample opportunities to discover how creative placemaking can facilitate community growth. As Director Vazquez explains, “Through this program, students can learn more about the inner workings of communities and local economies. Urban planners and public policy professionals will understand better how to engage and support the arts and artists.”
new program capitalizes on the academic strengths of NHIA and our experience in delivering high-quality, low-residency professional development and graduate level courses while leveraging NCCP’s broad network of contacts and expertise in the emerging field of creative placemaking,” says NHIA president Kent Devereaux.
Individuals interested in learning more about the Certificate in Creative Placemaking program should contact placemaking@ nhia.edu or visit nhia.edu/creativeplacemaking.
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creative placemaking throughout the country. “This
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NHIA is uniquely positioned to play an integral role in
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IN THE COMMUNITY
IN THE COMMUNITY
Manchester
CULTURAL DISTRICT BY JENNIFER ROBERTSON, Director of Marketing
ON MAY 7, 2017, THE MANCHESTER, NH CITY ALDERMEN UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ESTABLISH THE MANCHESTER CULTURAL DISTRICT, WHICH ENCOMPASSES A SIX-BLOCK AREA AROUND VICTORY PARK WITH BOUNDARIES FORMED BY ELM STREET TO THE WEST, UNION STREET TO THE EAST, LOWELL STREET TO THE NORTH, AND HANOVER STREET TO THE SOUTH. The original idea to establish the Cultural District was brought to the city by the Manchester Cultural District Coalition, a group comprised of various non-profits located around Victory Park including the New Hampshire Institute of Art, Palace Theatre, Manchester Historic Association and Manchester City Library. The move to officially designate the area will attract new businesses, tourists and residents to this part of the city while helping the community to secure private foundation, state and federal funds. The District includes the Victory Park Historic District, which earned a place on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places for being home to four early 20th century stone buildings by famed architect's William Rantoul and Edward Tilton, designer of Ellis Island. One of those buildings is NHIA’s Emma B. French Hall, built and gifted to the college in 1916.
If you're interested in learning more about Manchester, NH, visit www.manchesterchamber.org.
MANCHESTER CULTURAL DISTRICT
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Former U.S. Post Office
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Manchester Historic Association
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Carpenter Memorial Library
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NHIA, French Hall
CULTURAL DISTRICT 5
NHIA, Lowell Hall
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Rex Theater
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NHIA, Williams Hall
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Palace Theatre
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NHIA, Fuller Hall
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PARK --- VICTORY HISTORIC DISTRICT
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ON CAMPUS
Comic Arts AT NHIA
BY MONICA BILSON,
Chair, BFA, Creative Writing Director, MFA, Writing
Y EFINED B MEDIUM D A IS S IC AND AN COM ENTATION IM R E P X E , S TER BOLDNES E CHARAC H T S T N PASSION, E M T COMPLE INOR PIRIT THA S E IV S U IC ARTS M L M O INC C R U NHIA. O EAVING CIPLES OF ERSITY, W AND PRIN IV D D N A NESS ADEN THIS RICH S TO BRO T R A REFLECTS L A U AND VIS R OF R WRITING LL MANNE A S S A P TOGETHE M O AND ENC HINKING T E IV T A E CR LING. STORYTEL
Students pursuing the Comic Arts track explore the entire process of making comics and graphic novels, from concept to publication, and extend their learning beyond the creation of art and into the business of building a career and earning a living as a comics artist. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a broad set of skills through courses in illustration, creative writing, liberal arts and professional practices, resulting in a practical understanding of essential creative concepts such as genre, comics scripting, character development and character design. NHIA’s diverse instructors are established, working
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professionals in the field who guide students
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cartooning, visual storytelling, narrative structure,
contemporary digital approaches to creating
toward proficiency with traditional physical and comics. Students also benefit from visiting artist instructors, guest lecturers, gallery exhibitions, state-of-the-art technology labs, and affiliation with the world-renowned Center for Cartoon Studies in neighboring Vermont.
Alec Longstreth gives a talk at NHIA. w
are fantasy or reality-based, are what make us human. Having skills as a cartoonist opens up options small and large. In my own career I have worked for foreign political campaigns, drawn online comics essays, worked in editorial illustration, and made comics for NBC and the Boston Globe. There are other options like mainstream comic publishers Marvel and DC or small press indies like Top Shelf, First Second, Rosarium, and Fulcrum. Students can use their storytelling skills to become character designers or storyboard artists in film and advertising. The possibilities for a cartoonist today are only limited by their ability to create their own story. “At NHIA, our comic arts program will not look at comics as a genre that is pigeonholed into fantasy and sci-fi stories. We help students tell their stories whether they be fantastical, epic super-powered battles or quiet personal memoirs; our goal and mission is to train storytellers and help them develop their voice.”
The New York Times writes, “At a moment when racial inequities have ignited this nation, Mr. Gill offers direction for the road ahead from the road behind.” Joel Christian Gill, author and illustrator of the series Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History and Tales of the Talented Tenth from Fulcrum Books, is an educator, historian, advocate, activist, and cartoonist.
Joel Gill
“Comics are a form of outsider art. Comics’ most resounding creations have come from uncelebrated people and unexpected places — from Siegel and Shuster, the pair of Depression-era teenagers in Cleveland who created Superman, to Marjane Satrapi, the young woman who shared her experience living through the Iranian Islamic revolution in Persepolis. The accessibility of comics opens the door to wholly original stories from industries are highly competitive and changing dynamically in the face of technology, we are living in an era where every individual can make their voice heard.” Cory Levine served as an editorial staffer for Marvel Comics where he edited hundreds of collected editions of comic books. He is the owner/operator of First Edition Publishing, Inc. and is the writer and co-creator of Bowery Boys: Our Fathers, an original graphic novel published in print by Dark Horse Comics and on the web at bowerboyscomic.com. He teaches in NHIA’s Foundations, Design and Professional Practices departments.
Cory Levine
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unheard voices and the world is taking notice. While the publishing
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HIA. www.alec-longstreth.com
“Comics are a way to communicate and share our stories. Our stories, whether they
ON CAMPUS
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
STUDENT STORIES
Sample Storm Drain Artwork at Lowell and Chestnut
Hummingbird Radio Hummingbird Radio 64.2 is a student run radio show that plays music 24/7. The program runs through an online source called airtime, which allows our staff to host podcasts and create station playlists. The online station also allows us to go “live” or “on-air,” and host live DJ shows. We currently offer six shows that run at different times every day, 24 hours a day:
> 64.2 HITZ* - All the best music, all in one place. *This show may host explicit content. We acknowledge music in all genres as an artistic medium and play the music as it was originally released.
DRAINS TO MERRIMACK Sustainability Course More Than a Class BY JUDITH FOLLO AND LESLIE ADAMS
NHIA's newly established Sustainability class is intended to give students
> 00’s Rewind - T-pain’s fur boots are still in our studio’s coat closet…
an opportunity to do a capstone project in service learning using their
> Study Hour - Don’t change that channel. Let us help you focus on your work!
community need that connects with curricular goals and objectives.
> DJ Favorites - DJ take the wheel...
community need and use their skills as creative problem solvers to help
> All Request Hour - Request tracks by visiting us on Facebook: @hummradio > Hummingbird Special Series - We’re looking for people to host ONE HOUR SPECIALS on our program! We bring the equipment, you bring the content! From what’s on your iPod, to a special topic show, we want to hear it all! Pitch us at: hummradio64.2@gmail.com To listen to Hummingbird Radio, visit hummingbirdradio642.airtime.pro
creative talents and interests. Service learning involves identifying a Students apply what they've learned in the Sustainability class to a fill that need. The process required students to research an environmental issue as it relates to the community we live in and write a reflection piece about their experience as creative problem solvers. The projects students worked on were incredibly diverse. One student worked on eliminating litter around campus while identifying proper smoking areas for each of the buildings. Other students decided to work together on Earth Day weekend to pick up trash in Victory Park and on Amherst Street. Students also worked with the City of Manchester to design storm drain stencils to improve storm water education in the city. Once the students
Summer 2017
learned more of the ecology of the Merrimack River, they decided to add
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Ayris and Vault Gallery Ayris Journal is a student and faculty run creative arts forum dedicated to exploring and promoting the creative community that is NHIA. Along with the book we produce annually, we also curated eight gallery exhibitions for the Vault Gallery. Many of those shows were heavily rooted in collaboration and interactive artwork. We also hosted a week of collaborative play across campus during undergraduate student review week, where students were provided with opportunities to destress and create artwork outside of the traditional classroom.
representations of native migratory fish to the design. Currently, these designs are undergoing approval by the city. Photography students in the class got together to help out a local not-for-profit, the Education Farm at Bedford, who requested artwork donations. For this project, students went to the farm and took photos of the animals and buildings. These matted prints will be put up for auction at the Farm's next fundraiser. Finally, Jen Drociak of the NH Department of Environmental Services and an NHIA alumni, coordinated a volunteer stream and pond clean up day where students researched the effects of debris and pollution on water quality. They also helped pick up over 20 bags of debris along Black Brook (formally Maxwell Pond).
#45on45 Assignment Reflection
ON CAMPUS
LIE LIE S LIE S S
BY CORY LEVINE
Principles of Design I is a unique course in the NHIA curriculum as it is required not only for Design majors, but for Photography and Illustration students as well. This spring, I had the pleasure of teaching these “nonmajor” students, in which we explore the foundational concepts of visual design and engage in the creative process for solving design problems. For better or worse, this semester we find ourselves working in the context of a historical moment that cannot be ignored. Piggybacking on the #45on45 project initiated by NPR program The 1A, students were challenged to create a poster reflecting their own interpretation of the 45 words of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The project was run during the first 45 days of the 45th presidential administration. The class submitted their works to The 1A and to the on-campus VERGE gallery, where several pieces were selected for exhibition. The crux of the assignment was the requirement that students incorporate the entire 45-word text of the amendment in their visual solutions. To succeed in this effort, the designers had to give a unique voice to the same text as their peers; accomplished by employing the typographic principles studied in class.
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Co eace or a w re to p spe f reli redr e rig e fre gres bly to rid cti tio ec lig ss f ex sh a g an go th r p gr e e e , a ed b m re ib es p f; la d of t o a th th n a ab espe peti spe of re dre ht o ee ress ly to gin ting the r of n, o s of of thercis mak ble e fre esta vern e p proh vanc ople ereo no , an om men for ; or ing s. Co eace e ig fr it f o m r t s t id c e le d n o w d to m o ent r a r e r the ongceab abr spe tion ch, ligio dre righ e ex hall asse g th g a e g of th, or grie e pe e th mak emb free blish men ress ohib ance ple p p r C n o m th in n th r n f is e s r e ti e e e s , a eed lish nt fo ; or iting ces. pea f; o w r pe spe t of r r a r r the e fr ress ly to ridg pecti tion ch, o ligio ss o of th xerc shall as the esta vern the or p griev peo to g n o of , f e fr b e ss ib n le eo la to of n fo o th g b b s ti e e re t e he estaernm pre proh ieva eop ther e no and om hme ent ess; iting Con cea or a w re pe spe t of r red righ free ress ably idgin ng a the g, or gion ss o of th an gov the or f gr e p ise ak ble, eed blis rnm pr hib ces. pea eof; o la nd to of en r a the the ong ace abr ecti on ech reli edre ight f n, s o f th rc ll m m fr sta ve the ro n le er n a om hm t fo or g . C pe or sp titi pe of r r e o e e a s s , th or gio res t o ex ha sse the n e go of r p iev op th ake le eed bli en ss; itin ce le f; r pe f s nt r a the h, eli d h e s s a g a e r , o r pe e m b fr ta m re ib n p eo w to o e fo r ec of r a re e rige fre gres ly to gin ting n th ch, o gion of g the ercishall ssem the n es vern e p proh rieva peo ther no laand dom lishm ent ss; o o th id c o s f x t r e a e b m e en nt fo or th g th Con ceab abr spe petiti spee f reli dres ht o ee e ess s to ging ng a e g r of , or of g f th rcise ake ble, fre esta vern e pr ; in . ti th n s o e m r e e r ly me ress hibit nces peaof; o w r d to m of ent o a re e rigthe fr ong eab abridspec tion ch, o ligio dres ight e ex hall ssem g th g an e go of th p ro va ple re o la an do m for r th g . C ac r re eti ee re re e r e s s a gin tin th or p rie eo the n le, ee lish nt ; o itin ces pe f; o w p sp of r a th e fr res to rid ec on h, g e p e ake b e fr tab me ess hib an le reo o la d to of ent fo or th ng ably ab esp etiti eec p ; m g is t r s v n r o o s e r n p n e p m o c m e n r m r e th er ll ss g th n ve p p rie pe th e , a o sh e es itin . C ac o w to f s d e r k f; m r sha to a gin ng a e go of th n, o of g the rcise ma mble free tabli ern e p rohib nces le pe reo no laand om o rid ti ss f e ll e e s ov th p a p e e , d r ab spec on thh, o eligioedre ht o e ex s sha ass g th an e e g r of , or riev peo ise th mak ble free re etiti eec of r a r e rig fre res to gin ting n th h, o ion of g the erc all ssem the p sp nt r th the ng bly rid ec tio ec lig ss of ex sh a g fo o a b ti e e s me ent s; or iting s. C ace or a resp pe f sp of r edre ight free res ly to idgin m res hib nce pe f; w d to m o ent a r e r the ong eab abr p ro va ple reo o la an do hm for r th g . C ac r p rie eo the n le, ee lis nt ; o itin ces pe f; o g e p e ake b e fr tab me ess hib an le reo th ercis ll m ssemg th n es vern pr pro riev peop the e sha to a gin ng a e go of th n, or of g the rcise rid ti ss f e r ab spec on thh, o eligioedre ht o e ex re etiti eec of r a r e rig fre p sp nt r th the fo or g e t m en s; itin m res hib p ro
taking are ever humbling and a tremendous source of inspiration for their peers and instructors alike.
Final Project Examples: Madison Sanborn; Kailey Greene; Daniel Travis; Kevin McKee; Luke Swanson; Helena Akhtar
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LAW O N MAKE L L SHA S S ON, E I R G G I CON By executing all the states of the design process, students REL F O SS; with a range of solutions as diverse as their T E emerged N R E P M perspectives. While some students sought to express LIS THE B F A O T R the complexity of preserving the First Amendment ES O S made very clear declarations in their work H, C CEothers E N rights, E A P V OF S GRIE about their stance on the current state of one or all five M F O O D freedoms. I am grateful for their eagerness to take on the ESS FREE R D E E challenge of the cultural moment and the refreshed by H AR GT N R I boldness of their work. O G F D T N E ABRI RNM These young professionals’ honesty and creative riskGOVE
w o la ke n ment a m l sh shal abli ress g an est hibiting ; g n o o C n reof r pr ecti resp ligion, o cise the om of d r e of r ree exe he free s; or t f r g e p es th gin the le brid or a h, or of he peop , and c t le e f b e o m t sp t asse nmen righ the ably to e Gover ances. v e h peac tition t of grie s e to p redres a r o f
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Students first approached the design problem by surveying their news sources for local and national issues that relate to the five freedoms guaranteed by the amendment. Class discussion helped illuminate what social and political issues are most compelling to the students and that research helped inform their creative solutions.
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IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A YEAR HAS
Sharon THE EVOLUTION OF THE
PASSED SINCE THE RENOVATION OF THE SHARON ARTS CENTER GALLERIES IN DOWNTOWN PETERBOROUGH! WHEN WE REMODELED THE GALLERY, OUR AIM WAS NOT ONLY TO UPDATE THE OUTDATED FINISHES BUT ALSO TO SHAPE THE SPACE IN A WAY THAT WOULD SERVE ARTISTS AND THE COMMUNITY FOR YEARS TO COME. WE SET OUT TO CREATE A MORE PROFESSIONAL, INVITING, AND COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PRESENTATION OF VISUAL ARTS, EXHIBITIONS,
Center BY CAMELLIA SOUSA,
Director of Sharon Arts Center Campus
LECTURES, AND WORKSHOPS. AFTER “LIVING IN” THE SPACE FOR A YEAR, WE REMAIN PLEASED WITH HOW THE RENOVATIONS TURNED OUT. WE’VE ALSO CONTINUED TO MAKE INVESTMENTS IN THE SPACE, INCLUDING TREATING THE CEILING OF OUR MAIN GALLERY TO IMPROVE THE ACOUSTICS AND COMMISSIONING TWO NEW MUSEUM-QUALITY BENCHES BY LOCAL HANCOCK CRAFTSMAN,
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TODD VON MARTENS.
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The gallery renovation saw us almost double the amount of wall space available for exhibitions while also making the space fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We installed an elevator and made upgrades to the entrances and the restrooms. We also replaced the outdated lighting with museumquality, high-efficiency, LED lighting. Finally, we refinished all wall surfaces and replaced the existing flooring with a more durable, longer lasting and more environmentally-friendly bamboo. When we moved back into our new space, we quickly realized that there were additional enhancements we wanted to make. (Reminds me of most home improvement projects!) First, that beautiful bamboo floor dramatically increased reverberation and decreased speech intelligibility. We knew we would need to address the issue and settled on the installation of a sprayed-in acoustically absorbent material for the ceiling. The new material absorbs about 65% of the sound generated in the space, making normal conversations more pleasant.
will have access to the most current hardware and software for photography, illustration, and design classes. This upgrade included installing eight new 27” iMacs with 5k retina displays, pen and touch tablets, and new high-resolution color printers. Students also have access to the latest version of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Instructor Ed Ting just finished teaching the first class, Astrophotography, in the new lab. Students were provided with an introduction to astronomy, instruction in various astro-photo techniques, and practical, real-time tips for capturing images under the night skies. Students used the new lab to process their images to produce night sky landscapes, close-up shots and composite stitches of the moon, as well as images of Jupiter and Saturn.
We’re also quite excited about a project organized and curated by the retired NHIA Chair of Photography, Gary Samson. The show features the work of approximately 40 local photographers who have been photographing the diversity of people, places and events found within a 10-mile radius of Peterborough. It includes both posed and candid portraits of people at work or home, as well as images of buildings and structures, streetscapes and landscapes, and scenes from everyday life throughout the Monadnock region. The exhibition runs November 3 to December 23 with an opening reception scheduled for Friday, November 3, from 5-7pm. Finally, thanks to a very generous anonymous matching grant from one individual, we completed overhauling the digital lab at our Sharon Arts Center campus. Now our community education students
It has been a rewarding experience to be a part of the changes happening at the Sharon Arts Center, all designed to better serve our students, artists and the community. Although we have accomplished a great deal this past year, there is still work to be done, with additional improvements planned for the store and the Sharon Arts Center campus in the coming years. Sometimes during a quiet morning in Sharon, I think about how lucky I am to be able to watch over a special place with a deep and unique history and now, under the umbrella of NHIA, a promising future.
Interested in learning more about Sharon Art Center? Visit nhia.edu/SAC
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With gallery renovations now complete, we’re turning our attention to two highly anticipated exhibitions coming to the gallery this fall. First, we’re pleased that the Monadnock Art Tour’s Preview exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, September 29, from 5-7pm. The opening reception serves as the kickoff event for the 22nd Annual Art Tour which occurs each October during the peak of the colorful foliage season. More information is available at nhia. edu/events or monadnockart.org/art-tour.
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Second, it was clear to us that we needed to commission several benches for the galleries, pieces we hoped would give visitors a reason to pause, linger, and contemplate the artwork on view. Fortunately, we found exactly what we were looking for in the work of noted furniture designer Tod Von Martens of nearby Hancock. Each bench measures eight feet in length and is made of an ambrosia maple slab with waterfall edge construction.
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Bringing the World
to Our Campus
WHO WOULD THINK THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, CREATIVES, ARTS ENTREPRENEURS AND ARTS ENTHUSIASTS COULD ATTEND FREE TALKS BY RENOWNED NAMES IN DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION, PRINTMAKING, PHOTOGRAPHY, WRITING AND MORE.
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM LECTURES
GRADUATE PROGRAM LECTURES
NHIA's MFA in Photography program hosted photographer and publisher Thomas Roma in January. Roma is a Brooklynbased photographer who has been awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships and a New York State Council for the Arts Fellowship. He has published over a dozen books and his work appears in numerous collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.
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In February, multi-talented artist, writer and curator Phong Bui talked to students and faculty about his experiences as the co-founder of the monthly journal The Brooklyn Rail as well as his time as curatorial advisor at MoMA PS1 from 2007 to 2010. Phong Bui is well known for creating paintings, sculptural work, and installations. Award-winning poet Alison Hawthorn Deming helped NHIA celebrate National Poetry Month in April. Deming spoke to NHIA faculty and students at River Run Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH Deming read from her new collection of poetry, Stairway to Heaven. NHIA MFA in Creative Writing alumnus, Irene McGarrity, read from her own work at the beginning of the event.
Printmaker Chris Fritton is currently working on a project called The Itinerant Printer, where he has been visiting letterpress print shops all over the US. NHIA was proud to host him on the last leg of his trip. Fritton is the former Studio Director of the Western New York Book Arts Center. Fritton has over a decade of experience writing, printing and making his own books. He co-founded the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair in 2007 and has been organizing the fair on his own since 2009. NHIA’s Illustration program celebrated a new minor in Comic Arts by inviting nationally-known illustrators to the college. Aaron Meshon, who illustrates and designs for magazines, advertisements, children’s products and books visited us in early March. Alec Longstreth spoke to NHIA students about his work with Nickelodeon Magazine and National Geographic Kids. He has also illustrated promotional items for the bands Weezer and Harry and the Potters. April brought Dash Shaw and Elliot Fernandez to campus. Dash Shaw is a U.S. comic book writer/artist and animator. His graphic novels include Cosplayers, Doctors, New School and Bottomless Belly Button. His comics are well known for their emphasis on emotional, lyrical logic an innovative design. Elliot Fernandez is an American illustrator, designer, storyboard artist and concept artist who talked about his work and how to make a career in Comic Arts.
Joe Fig, an artist and author known for his works that explore the creative process and the spaces where art is made, visited campus this past winter. His paintings and sculptures are exhibited internationally and can be found in numerous museums and leading private collections. Joe spoke about his explorations and reproductions of the studios and work habits of well-known artists. Over the years, he has interviewed more than a hundred leading contemporary artists including Chuck Close, Eric Fischl, Carroll Dunham, Petah Coyne, Mary Heilmmann, Fred Tomaselli, Tara Donovan, Tom Friedman, Julie Mehretu, and Ursula von Rydingsvard.
Flaherty reflected on community-building, hybridity, collaboration and money. Rita Armstrong of NYC recruiting firm Engaging Talent spoke to the NHIA community in April. She addressed how to prepare for a successful interview, including what a resume should look like. She answered questions on what creative leaders are looking for in candidates and how to best prepare for current employer demands.
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MEMBERSHIP, CAREER AND ALUMNI SERVICES LECTURES
NHIA was pleased to host their very first Storytelling Festival in early April. Amateur and professional storytellers from around the state were invited to submit their true or fictional stories. 15 storytellers participated in the festival, telling stories about war, childhood, parenthood, love and adventure. The event was emceed by NHPR’s Virginia Prescott.
Early February brought us a lecture at the Sharon Arts Center by art historian and curator, Inez McDermott. She discussed 19th century landscape photographers in the Mondanock region and the
ways that their work was both an influence on and influenced by the many painters who flocked to the region. Later in the month, Color Scientist Harold Boll spoke to the campus about how the brain responds to colors in different conditions. Miriam Carter of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, spoke to students, alumni and members interested in learning about selling their work in retail environments such as shops, craft fairs and festivals. She also discussed her own background as a felter.
Late March brought poet Darcie Dennigan to campus. She discussed how to start an artistic or literary community and how to make collaboration part of a students’ artistic practice. Using the work of choreographer Pina Bausch as a touchpoint, this conversation between Darcie Dennigan and BFA Faculty Ryan
15 Interested in learning more about NHIA’s events? Visit nhia.edu/events.
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The Office of Career and Alumni Services worked with the Design Department to bring designer Aaron Draplin to campus for his lecture "Behind the Scenes with the DDC." He spoke about his beginnings as a rookie designer, searching out clients whose style matched his own and about writing and designing his first book. The event filled the French Hall Auditorium to capacity and left many audience members enthused about design.
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THE CULMINATION OF FOUR YEARS OF ARTISTIC GROWTH, NHIA’S 2017 ANNUAL BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS (BFA) STUDENT
THE FUTURE OF THE ARTS
EXHIBITION SHOWCASES THE TOP ACHIEVEMENTS OF ITS GRADUATING CLASS, AS WELL AS SELECTED OFFERINGS FROM A TALENTED CROP
Summer 2017
OF UNDERCLASSMEN.
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The exhibition features over 1,000 works of art displayed throughout three buildings— Lowell Hall, French Hall, and Williams Hall— in a variety of media including paintings, illustrations, prints, ceramics, sculpture, graphic designs, photographs, comics, and creative writing. Styles range from conventional to newer, more experimental approaches. All the artwork was available for purchase and all proceeds from artwork sales went directly to the student artists.
IN THE COMMUNITY
2017 ANNUAL BFA EXHIBITION
“I’m absolutely thrilled with the achievements our students have made this year,” said Bill Schaaf, NHIA Dean of Undergraduate Studies. “We displayed stunning work from across a range of creative industries; some of it the public may recognize from our commissions and internships in the area. This event gives the public the opportunity to purchase any of 1,000 original works, mingle with the artists and hear the story of how such creative work came into being. It truly is a catalyst for bringing the community together to support our students and the arts.”
Interested in learning more about our exhibitions? Visit nhia.edu/exhibitions.
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COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS We were honored to have National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu address our graduates and their families from across the nation. Her commitment on behalf of the arts and the role they play in fostering a vibrant, creative, and healthy democracy is unquestioned, and the life lessons she shared with our students from her unique perspective as the child of immigrant parents who has risen to a position of national prominence were invaluable.
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Adding to the excitement and growing popularity of NHIA’s Annual BFA Exhibition, this year’s show featured the participation of several Manchester area food trucks and craft brewers, in addition to the provision of wine, refreshments and hors d’oeuvres. Also new this year, all exhibition ticket holders received 10% off dinner at participating restaurants in downtown Manchester.
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Highlights from the Annual BFA Exhibition include:
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PAGE 17: Roger Williams Gallery; Nikki Gregory at Chloé Ameral installation; Jacob Estevez; NEA Chairman Jane Chu PAGE 18: Paige Johnson; Chad Howard; Shannon Murphy; Aaron Kane; Joshua Query; Johnson Florvil; Shannon Murphy; Selina Rizzo PAGE 19: Katherine Riendeau; Alexandra Bye; Illustration Community Service Piano; Derek Taylor; Max Gagnon; Zachary Afshar PAGE 20: Brittany Bowne; Melissa Roy; Chloe Schoppmeyer; William Preusch; Matt Gile; Jacob Estevez; Emma Horton; Johnson Florvi; Austin William; Isabel Brayton PAGE 21: Brooke Thivierge; Shannon Scott; Clara Hartman; Arthur Burdak; French Hall Gallery; Jesilynn Jones; Kailey Greene; Chloé Ameral PAGE 22: Jessica Streppel; Kaitlyn Jerge; Brittany Bowne; Katelynn Hawes; Bronte Boulet; Kady Underwood; Samantha Brown; Morgan Kidder; Meralee Allen; Thomas Morse; Madison Sanborn; Larin Cilley
That You, Are an Artist! 2017 Student Graduation Address Each year, a student graduation speaker is nominated by Chairpersons, auditions with peers, then selected by the faculty and Dean of Undergraduate Studies
I think we’d quantify those bouts of laughter too, the ones which threatened to tear us at the seam. And how about every tear we spilt on a kind shoulder, or the ears we leant to a friend and every ear that was leant in return. Many will never forget the Ben & Jerry’s run or excursion to the red arrow at 3:00 am, every impromptu studio party, every improper use of the word “juxtaposition”, Every nasty New England blizzard…Every finals week, as we all careened in manic flurries to accomplish our pieces before the next day’s 8:30 class. And How about the 12 a.m. last ditch effort to recruit someone [Anyone!] to model for a reference photo: “here take this mop head, stand over there and pretend you’re holding a dragon!” Every grueling all-nighter, every cup of coffee, and every moment we doubted ourselves. Then, of course, there’s every piece we brought into critique feeling on top of the world about!−how about
Some of those same people that would claim our diplomas aren’t meaningful, they would also fail to see the worth of what an artist does, for EX: I was once asked what I was in school for, to which I happily replied, “I’m working to get my BFA in illustration and creative writing”. That was met first by a grimace and then a chuckle, promptly followed up with the question of what I did with all my “free time”. I don’t know about you, but looking back over the past few years, I’m finding it difficult to pin point these supposedly large amounts of free time…I really tried to be nice to this person because, it was very clear that they hadn’t the slightest clue how Art it is made –– Or a single clue about how badly the world needs it. I’d also add that there isn’t a single soon-to-be graduate here who needs it explained to them just how much hard work goes into what we do, or that art, as a field, is extremely demanding and competitive. Which is why our degrees are not only symbols of our work and artistic growth here, at NHIA−they also represent the friends, significant others, family, staff and faculty who have supported, inspired and facilitated those developments. That’s exactly why if ever my degree is brought into question, I will think of all of you. I will think about how it has been in your company that I’ve become the person I am. I will think of the tremendous pride it brings me to call myself your classmate, your coworker, your student, your RA (beat boxing down the hall ways while on rounds), your friend, Significant Other, Your Brother, Your Son…And I will not forget to mention that NHIA is my home. So lastly, I entreat you Class of 2017, soak up everything about this and never lose sight of everything your diploma means! Or of how powerful, intelligent, talented, and capable you are. And if ever you’re asked about what you do, may answer with all the beaming pride you deserve, that you are an artist…and if there’s any mention of free time
Simply repeat...That You, Are an Artist! Matt Gile ‘17, Illustration, Creative Writing minor
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Simply Repeat...
I’m not saying that we couldn’t do it, I just think that many of us relate to the world a different way. So, our diplomas, let us quantify them differently too. Like in every break-through had at the helm of an easel, every brush stroke, pencil mark, or passage of pastel. Every letter, of every word chattered into existence on our keyboards. Every photo bath, strip of film, pound of clay, or glaze firing. Every chunk of perfectly kerned text, or all the hours spent wrangling the pen tool into submission! Every photo shop, illustrator, or in-design file−And, “Rest in Peace” to those we lost in the epic computer crashes of Finals week! Every book bound, every type set, or print peeled away newly inked from the press. All the color, and value studies, every round of 10 - 20 thumbnail sketches only to have our professor choose our least favorite one!
Our degrees represent every ounce of heart and soul we stuffed into those pieces we were just barely brave enough to let leave our hands... And my most esteemed peers, that’s who we are. Artists, of all these powerful mediums. I truly think we are some of toughest, yet simultaneously soft hearted people they make and for that, the world needs us−It needs our passion, our empathy, and expression, our ability to see things differently, and our drive to create…
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Now, seeing that this is a commencement speech, the temptation is there for me to go down the very clichéd path of equating the number of hours it took to earn these papers, siting, of course, the sum of the Number of days in an academic calendar year, (160) times the hours in a day (24), times the years of attendance, minus the sleep that (let’s face it) none of us got anyway−And eventually, arriving at some numerical approximation, I’d say, that these fancy papers represent the time we spent here at NHIA…But, that sounds like a lot of math for a crowd of creatives!
every time it turned out that wasn’t the case and we walked our bruised egos home? But Every time, we got back up again with a willingness to learn and improve and a refusal to quit.
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We haven’t graduated just yet and so while there’s still a smidgen of time left before we do, NHIA’s Class 2017 −let us look around−let us soak up every iota, every molecule of this moment, reveling in the fact that “we made it”! In just a little while, each of us will walk across the stage, stand under these lights−and in front of our loved ones, receive our diplomas−Which, some in the world would allege, are just mere fancy pieces of paper with crazy price tags. But We, NHIA’s class of 2017, we know better than to join them in this opinion because our diplomas are already far greater than that!
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Tribute
A
TO
Gary Samson and Bev Conway
BY BETSY HOLMES,
Director of Teti Library and Special Collections GARY AND BEV. THEIR NAMES TOGETHER ELICIT COMMENTS LIKE THIS ONE FROM COLLEAGUE DOUG PRINCE: “THEY ARE UNSURPASSED IN THEIR PASSION FOR
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PHOTOGRAPHY AND FOR TEACHING, THEIR CARE AND COMPASSION FOR THE
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CREATIVE LIVES OF THEIR STUDENTS, AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NHIA PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT AND TO PHOTOGRAPHY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.” GARY SAMSON AND BEVERLY CONWAY WILL BE SORELY MISSED WHEN THEY RETIRE FROM NHIA THIS SPRING. THEIR SHOES WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO FILL, BUT THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO NHIA AND OUR STUDENTS WILL CONTINUE THEIR LEGACY.
GARY SAMSON GARY BEGAN TEACHING PHOTOGRAPHY IN 1971 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (UNH). HE TAUGHT HIS FIRST CLASS AT NHIA (THEN KNOWN AS THE MANCHESTER INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES) IN 1982. IN 2001, GARY WAS APPOINTED CHAIR OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT WHERE HE TEACHES BOTH DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL FILM-BASED PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES AS PART OF THE UNDERGRADUATE AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS. During this long tenure, Gary has also had a successful fine art photography career, receiving numerous awards, grants and fellowships. In 1984, he received a fellowship from the New Hampshire Council on the Arts for his environmental portraits of New Hampshire artists and writers, including Donald Hall, Jon Brooks, Lotte Jacobi, James Aponovich and David Lamb. Gary’s photographs are included in the permanent collections of the Currier Museum of Art, New Hampshire Institute of Art, the state of New Hampshire, the UNH Art Museum, and the National Archives in Washington, D.C., as well as in private collections. Cultural photography and documentary filmmaking assignments over the past four decades have taken Gary to Russia, Ghana, Guatemala, Peru, Ireland, France, Labrador, Belize, Cape Breton and New Orleans, as well as the White House. After producing a film on the life of internationally acclaimed portrait photographer, Lotte Jacobi, Gary spent six years working with Ms. Jacobi cataloging her archive of 47,000 negatives that had been donated to UNH. Collaborating with UNH professor Burt Feintuch, Gary photographically illustrated the book In the Blood: Conversations on Culture, published in the fall of 2010. Two more books followed from this initial collaboration: Talking New Orleans Music: Crescent City Musicians Talk about Their Lives, Their Music and Their City, published in 2015, and a book on Zydeco music, to be published in 2018. Much of Gary’s current work is photographic portraiture. His approach is to create extended portraits over several months or years. “I see the process of creating a portrait as a collaboration between myself and the subject in the subject’s familiar environment. That environment is an instrumental part of the portrait, revealing facets of the subject’s character. While I am setting up my camera, I draw the subject out in conversation and the ensuing dialogue will shape my portrayal of the individual. And like portrait photographers Arnold Newman, Lotte Jacobi and Richard Alvedon, I often prefer to use a view camera and black-and-white film to make these portraits.”
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Ellenwood’s sentiments are echoed in the remarks of other students. “I was attending a workshop in the White Mountains that was being led by Gary,” recalls Community Education student, Matt Gendron. “He was providing his photo insights one evening, which are always full of tremendous experience and guidance. I recall Gary talking about what to do when you can’t ‘see’ anything to photograph. He said... ‘just photograph what you hear.’ I made several photographs using that guidance and recall they were very different than anything I’d done before. Only Gary provides that kind of guidance. Gary’s unwavering commitment to the development of photographers is unmatched. His ability to guide and teach and allow you to develop your own art is not common .”
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Gary’s long-term portraiture process might serve as a metaphor for his long-term interest of the education and creative evolution of his students, many of whom stay in close touch with him after graduation, like alumna Elizabeth Ellenwood. “My knowledge of film and using a view camera … was mostly due to Gary’s attentiveness and positive attitude to my studies,” Ellenwood says. “His enthusiasm made me push myself during my four years at NHIA and he continues to be a driving force in my life now.”
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BEVERLY CONWAY BEV CAME TO HER CAREER IN PHOTOGRAPHY AFTER STUDYING HISTORY IN COLLEGE AND TEACHING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE HIGH SCHOOLS FOR 21 YEARS. DURING THAT TIME, SHE DEVELOPED HER ABILITY TO ENGAGE, MOTIVATE AND MENTOR YOUNG PEOPLE, RESULTING IN THE DEEP RAPPORT SHE HAS WITH NHIA STUDENTS TODAY. In 1998, she left teaching at the secondary level in order to take photography courses in the certificate program at NHIA. Bev studied with two photographers who were especially influential: Gary Samson and Dia Stolnitz. Upon completing the program, she was hired to teach part-time for NHIA’s Community Education program. Bev received her MFA in 2006 from the Art Institute of Boston (now Lesley University of Art and Design). Just before earning her MFA, she was hired as full-time faculty at NHIA. Bev has taught a wide range of courses in the Photography Department, both in the Undergraduate and Community Education programs, which recently included color photography and handmade photography. She designed a course in advanced handmade photography which combines contemporary digital images with 19th century photographic printing processes. During her teaching career, Bev has continued to seek out opportunities to grow as an artist. In addition to many conferences and workshops, she has studied historic photographic processes such as wet plate collodion and albumen printing. In 2014, Bev spent a sabbatical semester creating a series of wet plate images of antique tools. These images and others have been shown in many exhibitions, including: University of Northern Colorado Wet Plate Exhibition; alternative process exhibit curated by Christopher James at the Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado; “Myths,” a group show that traveled for 18-months through New England; “Going Forward, Looking Back--Practicing Historic Photographic Processes in the 21st Century,” a traveling show across New England; “Sun Pixels to MegaPixels: Archaic Processes to Alternative Realities” in Brooklyn, NY; the Louisville Photography Biennial in Louisville, KY; “The Past is Present,” at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY and “Action/Reaction” at The Art Gallery at the University of New Hampshire. Her images have also been included in several books. Her photographs are in both the second and third editions of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes by Christopher James and in Anthotypes-Explore the Dark Room in Your Garden and Make Photographs Using Plants by Malin Fabbri.
Summer 2017
In her almost 40 years as a teacher, Bev has discovered that her childhood passion for history and art are a wonderful combination. She has enjoyed teaching these historical processes and enabling her students to print an image from their digital cameras in a process invented in the 19th century. She believes that integrating history with today’s world expands the possibilities of how one creates a photograph and helps develop an appreciation for the history of this art form.
New Hampshire Institute of Art
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Bev’s professional biography does not emphasize the long-standing impact she has had on her students, but their thoughts help complete the picture. Photography Certificate alum and NHIA donor Thom Adams writes, “Bev Conway is an inspiring teacher who helps students see the world in color. Her students learn that color affects our moods, perspective, balance, and vision. They learn how color focuses a viewer’s attention…Bev is a nurturing teacher. She is a skillful, patient coach who guides students to learn.” Nurturing, passionate, committed, generous...these are the words that dominate thoughts and memories that are being shared with our community as Gary and Bev prepare to retire. We have been very fortunate to have had them as teachers, colleagues, artists and friends. Their presence will be missed and their contributions are not likely to be equaled. While the farewell is bittersweet, we look forward to seeing where they go and with whom they continue to share their gifts. Interested in learning more about NHIA’s Photography program? Visit nhia.edu/photography.
ON CAMPUS
Island of Hydra Gary Samson
“Brittney” Bev Conway Brianna Lueck Gary Samson
Talking New Orleans Music Gary Samson
GARY SAMSON “I HAVE KNOWN GARY FOR 20 YEARS NOW. WE STARTED OUT AS TEACHER AND STUDENT IN NHIA'S
PHOTOGRAPHY CERTIFICATE PROGRAM. THIS RELATIONSHIP LATER BECAME A MENTORSHIP AND NOW IS A FRIENDSHIP. I DON’T KNOW WHERE MY PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER WOULD BE TODAY WITHOUT GARY. HE
COUNSELED ME EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. HE WAS ALWAYS POSITIVE AND ALWAYS AVAILABLE AND IN HIS QUIET WAY CHANGED MY LIFE. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL, KIND AND KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE I KNOW.
HE MADE THE PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT AT NHIA THE JEWEL THAT IT IS TODAY. I WISH HIM ALL THE BEST FOR HIS FUTURE.”
Barbara Bickford
BECAUSE I WAS A WORK STUDY STUDENT, I SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT AND GOT TO KNOW THE FACULTY PRETTY WELL. I'VE FORGOTTEN HOW IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, BUT I WAS HOLDING A
ROLL OF TAPE, SITTING IN A CHAIR IN BEV’S OFFICE. SHE SLYLY ASKED ME TO HOLD ONE END OF THE TAPE AND
BEFORE I COULD ASK WHY SHE STARTED SPINNING THE ROLL OF TAPE AROUND ME, LITERALLY SECURING ME TO THE CHAIR I WAS SITTING IN. WE BOTH THOUGHT IT WAS HYSTERICAL AND LAUGHED FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
WE ACTUALLY STILL LAUGH ABOUT IT! SHARING LAUGHS WITH BEV IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT OUR
RELATIONSHIP. WHILE MY EDUCATION IN PHOTOGRAPHY HAS CERTAINLY GROWN BECAUSE OF BEV, MY LOVE OF LIFE AND LAUGHTER HAVE BEEN NURTURED BY HER, AS WELL.”
Elizabeth Ellenwood
27 New Hampshire Institute of Art
“ONE OF MY FAVORITE MEMORIES OF BEV SHOWS HER FUN AND GOOFY SIDE... IT WAS MY FRESHMAN YEAR AND
Summer 2017
BEVERLY CONWAY
MEMBER HIGHLIGHT
William J. Schnute WOODCARVER SUPPORT FROM MEMBERS LIKE WILLIAM IS INVALUABLE. WITHOUT THEM, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE WORLD-CLASS PROGRAMMING TO STUDENTS OF ALL AGES AND BACKGROUNDS THROUGHOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE. MEMBERS SEE US AS A VITAL RESOURCE TO THE COMMUNITY. THEY RECOGNIZE THAT ARTS EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE ULTIMATELY SHAPES OUR COMMUNITIES AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE WORLD.
NHIA member William J. Schnute of Wilton, NH, is a self-taught wood carver who began carving at the age of seven. After receiving a B.S. degree in General Science at the University of Iowa, he began a career in cell biology research. His passion, however, had always been for wood sculpture, developing into a full-time profession when he founded Oak Leaves Studio in 1974. He creates sculptural and architectural pieces for homes, businesses and non-profits around the country. NHIA: What was your involvement with art and creating three dimensional objects growing up? William Schnute: As a child, I did not participate in any art, 3D or otherwise, that was not of my own making with a piece of wood and a knife. I just found that carving was something I could do.
Summer 2017
NHIA: As an adult, did you pursue any other forms of art before becoming a wood carver? Have you ever worked two dimensionally? WS: No. No, I don’t see in two dimensions. I could always walk around an object in my mind.
New Hampshire Institute of Art
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NHIA: Your work is extremely detailed and requires a lot of technical knowledge regarding how wood behaves and the tensile strength of different woods in relation to each other and the overall weight of the piece. Did you work with a mentor, take classes or learn wood carving from an expert in some other way? WS: I am completely self-taught and my techniques have all been learned by trial and error. NHIA: What artists, craftspeople or other images and objects have been major influences on your work? WS: Since the beginning of my career, flora and fauna have been the major influence on my work an it is I captured in each piece I do. NHIA: Your work has been displayed in museums and galleries around the region. How do you think the acceptance of wood carving as an art form has changed over the years? WS: My feeling is that in this country, wood carving is largely regarded as a hobby. However, over the years the people who have commissioned my work have always appreciated the value of the architectural carving that I do.
NHIA: Can you discuss any interesting commissions you have had? WS: Ninety percent of my work is commissions and I find them all interesting. They are broad-ranging , both in theme and complexity and have allowed me to continue in my chosen field. NHIA: Your work varies in scale. You have created some very large pieces, which likely took a lot of practice in order to achieve. In practicing and attempting works in different sizes you may have experienced failures. Can you discuss some of these experiences? WS: My recent failings provided excellent kindling for my studio woodstove this past winter! But seriously, before opening my studio in 1974, I was a research scientist at the University of Iowa by day. By night, I was honing my wood carving skills. Each piece I do is thought thoroughly through to completion. Along with that, the correct tools, equipment and skill used, I find the fewer mistakes are made. NHIA: What types of wood do you like to work with and why? WS: High-relief carving requires excellent quality kiln-dried hardwood such as white oak, walnut and cherry, which are my favorites. NHIA: Please tell us a little bit about your process from start to finish. WS: For me, the first step is to form the image of how that project looks in my mind. Then I figure out how the appropriate block of wood will be glued together to execute the project. When the glue has dried and the clamps are removed, I then make a simple line drawing of the design on the wood and begin to carve. Or as I like to say, I get rid of the wood I don’t need. When the carving is completed, I choose the appropriate finish for the piece and apply it. NHIA: Are you currently working on any interesting projects you can share with us or do you have a “dream project” that you would love to do but have not begun yet? WS: I am always working on something interesting as I really enjoy my work. Between commissions I take the time to carve a piece that I have always wanted to do. It keeps my hands active. Interested in learning more about NHIA’s membership program? Visit nhia.edu/membership.
Marcia Connors, 2015 MAAE alum, is a New Hampshire art educator at Londonderry South Elementary School. She has taught there for 27 years, and will attest that the first five years of teaching are the hardest. Now a seasoned educator with a grounded art curriculum for grades 1 – 5, her well-organized art room accommodates more than 25 art classes in five different grade levels each week. This year, Connors bravely decided to sail art education into unchartered waters. She got rid of her third and fourth grade lessons to pilot a brand new, choice-based curriculum. This has been so successful, she has recently shifted her fifthgrade classes to this new model. MFA Photography student, Scott Durka's current work focuses on the changing landscape in Utah. Durka travels throughout the state observing and photographing landscapes altered by agriculture, industry and population growth. He explores why humans change the landscape, whether for resources, for profit, to sustain a way of life or out of ignorance. His work asks important questions about how the land is being changed and how to prevent transformations that negatively affect our future. BFA Photography alum, Elizabeth Ellenwood, has been accepted into the University of Connecticut MFA Program with a full scholarship. She has also just had her second solo exhibition, held at the Sharon Arts Center Gallery.
KNOW?
Mellissa Peterson and Jacquelin Corti, NHIA juniors, participated in the RAW Boston artist showcase on April 21. Elizabeth Reed and Jada Felder directed Ayris this past year. The spring 2017 semester started with the re-branding of Ayris’ logo, followed by the release of the newly designed Stall Street. In a group effort to clean up the Ayris image, they updated social media profiles and revised the layout of the blog. They then focused their efforts on curating the 2017 issue. Both the Ayris club and class worked strenuously to solicit, consider, select and edit the pieces chosen to be in the journal. Aside from the book, they also curated eight gallery shows for the Vault Gallery. Many of those shows were heavily rooted in collaboration and interactive artwork. They hosted a week of collaborative play across campus during review week, where they provided opportunities for students to de-stress and create artwork outside of the traditional classroom. The VERGE Gallery is a student-run gallery that focuses on building a community of NHIA alumni, faculty, and students, curating shows that spark discussion about art and important topics in the changing world. In the spring 2017 semester, curators worked with the Manchester School District to put on a show entitled "Intersections," in which students from local middle schools, high schools, and the NHIA community displayed pieces inspired by the theme of social issues. The show enabled youths to explore their opinions and began a conversation about how they can use their voices as artists to impact the world. The gallery also put on several smaller shows. The annual self-portrait show was altered to have an interactive element. Mirrors were installed on a rainbow striped wall and visitors were provided with various colored markers and encouraged to write on the mirrors. Some chose funny anecdotes, while others wrote very deep insightful things about what they saw in themselves. VERGE will be working on several other community projects in the upcoming months, including a positive mental health-themed show at Pastoral Counseling Center and a school-wide search for artwork to redecorate the cafeteria.
Summer 2017
Art Attack is NHIA’s annual spring art sale. This year the Student Leadership Committee hosted Art Attack in the French Hall Auditorium, giving students and members of the community an opportunity to enjoy the gallery and student work in the beautiful historic Emma Blood French Hall. Students, alumni, faculty and staff all participated, buying and selling ceramic works, jewelry, prints, posters, stickers, original paintings, drawings, clothing and food. Attracting lots of buyers from the NHIA and Manchester community, Art Attack presents a fantastic opportunity for students and alumni to sell their work and gain experience that helps them prepare for other conventions and craft fairs. The Student Leadership Committee also hosts an annual Art Attack Logo Design contest, where students and alumni can submit designs for a chance to win a free table. The winning design is selected by vote and goes on t-shirts and all promotional materials, making the contest a great way for students to market their work.
DID YOU
29 New Hampshire Institute of Art
Helena Akhtar, an NHIA junior, has just been accepted into the University of Westminster six week summer study abroad program.
A certificate graduate and former NHIA board member, an exhibit of her Burma photographs opened on May 5th at the Toyo Center, Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth.
ON CAMPUS
STUDENTS AND ALUMNI
ON CAMPUS
On February 18, in association with the College
next draft of the forest plan later this month, it
The NHIA Ceramics Department is looking
Art Association conference in New York City,
looks like much of Big Ivy will receive some kind
forward to taking advantage of a study
Launch F18 Gallery held a pop up show of
of special protection, although it is uncertain
abroad opportunity this summer in England.
MFA alumni work. The exhibit, Borderline,
yet how permanent or significant that
Sponsored by The International Society of
was co-curated by Eddysroom and Sam Trioli,
protection will be.
Ceramic Art Education and Exchange (ISCAEE), a consortium of college and university ceramic
and featured the work of photographers Glen Scheffer and Suzanne Revy, sculpture from
Congratulations to Tina Guay, Sam Kelly,
programs from around the world, this year’s
Danny Snow, and paintings from Brett Marcel.
Robin McGregor, Jeff Wheeler, Shannon
event will take place at the University of
Though there wasn’t an overt theme, each
Murphy, Erynn Porter, Emily Marsh who
the Creative Arts in Farnham. ISCAEE came
piece in the exhibit was imbued with a sense
were all nominated for the 2017 Distinguished
together when some key figures from the Tokyo
of dislocated place. Scheffer’s work captured a
Alumni Award.
University of the Arts in Japan, University of
staged night sky, which was balanced by Revy’s
the Creative Arts in Farnham England, Tacoma
image of a sky fashioned from plastic decals on
Community College in Washington and Tsingua
a bedroom ceiling. Snow’s obsessively painted
University in Beijing, China got together
tree fragment stood as sentry on one side of
for the sole purpose of sharing research,
the gallery, balanced by the bright, layered
knowledge and expertise in the ceramic arts in
surface of Marcel’s large scale mixed media
a worldwide arena. Hosted every other year
piece—a figure prostrate in front of, and in,
in a different country, ISCAEE conferences
psychedelic currency. Launch F18 is on the map
have grown to include around 250 participants
as a go-to gallery, and we had a steady stream
from 10 or more countries. While participants
of visitors throughout the night. We were able
in this symposium travel long hours literally
to celebrate a selected group of graduates and
to the other side of the globe for the love of
expand our programs’ visibility with this New
clay, lifelong connections are made by sharing
York exhibition. It was a good time and a good
demonstrations, presenting lectures and
opportunity all around!
participating in exhibitions—not to mention traveling together and sharing and exploring
Stephen McBride is continuing the work he
culture together.
began with his MFA thesis at NHIA, fighting to conserve and preserve the unique Big Ivy
Christina Guay Johnson receives her
section of Pisgah National Forest. With the
Distinguished Alumni Award, May 2017
National Forest Service poised to release their
CONGRATULATIONS TO
Christina Guay Johnson
Summer 2017
recipient of the
New Hampshire Institute of Art
30
2017 Distinguished Alumni Award for her work in creating NOC Community Darkroom In Biddeford, ME May 20th, 2017
On Campus •Distinguished alum award ½ page with images, 200 words Lindsay
you learn more about the history of the era.
American College Theater Festival, is currently
graduate, has been published in Brooklyn
The club invites anyone interested to bring your
being adapted for the screen.
Magazine, Bust, Ravishly, ROAR feminist lit
bustles, top hats and tea and join.
mag, and in the forthcoming fall issue of Mount
2016 MFA Writing for Stage and Screen Sew Cool operates on the idea that students
alumnus A.J. DeLauder's play The People at
are busy and sometimes stressed, so clubs
the Edge of Town was produced in May by
Luke Bonner from the Rock On Foundation
should be fun. Club meetings, held a couple
the Pocahontas County Drama Workshop, WV.
contacted the Illustration Department about
times a week, are often a lot of laughing and
A.J. was also named as an Honorable Mention
having our students create poster illustrations
singing to whatever is playing while members
in the WV Writers, Inc. annual scriptwriting
for a performance by The Slants, an Asian-
sew. Don’t know how to sew? That’s okay! Club
competition, for his ten-minute play, The
American dance rock band from Portland,
members are happy to teach you how to sew
Spider Test. Another of his full-length plays,
OR. The concert was hosted by the University
both on machine and by hand. Members are
The Redemption of Rube Moats, will be given
of New Hampshire Law School at True Brew
also welcome to work on their own projects,
a staged read in June as part of Theatre on the
Barista in Concord on April 24. The Slants
like embroidery or crochet or simply hang out
Lake's Old Red Barn Reading Series, MD, before
have been fighting a legal battle to register
and relax. Attendance is not mandatory. You
having its world premiere production with Lab
their band name as a federal trademark due to
can also use club supplies to save money while
Theatre Project later this year.
the seemingly offensive connotations of their
doing what you enjoy. Sometimes the club even
name. Some members of the Asian-American
gets involved in work outside the college. This
2016 MFA Writing for Stage and Screen alumnus
community see the term “slant” as a derogatory
year, we voted to take on a large commission,
Judy Zocchi has recently been admitted into
term. Each student in community studio created
collaborating with the March For Science to
the prestigious BMI Librettist Workshop, NYC.
an illustration depicting The Slants’ battle with
make a banner for an upcoming event.
Her play Plaid Skirts was given a workshop
Hope, all since she graduated a year ago.
the Patent and Trademark Office to register
ON CAMPUS
Erynn Porter, a 2016 Creative Writing
production in June 2017 at the Lab Theater
their name. The assignment posed the students
2016 MFA Writing for Stage and Screen alumnus
Project and her screenplay Holly Blossom and
with a number of challenges. Among them was
Owen Robertson founded Lab Theater Project
Rose was an Official Selection and finalist in
the task of depicting The Slants’ fight while also
in Tampa, FL. The developmental theater is
the 2017 New Hope Film Festival, New Hope,
creating an engaging, eye-catching rock poster.
currently in its third season and is dedicated to
PA. She is currently working on a full-length
The students did an amazing job of mixing
providing a path for new emerging playwrights
screenplay commission titled One New York
symbols representing the judicial system with
to have their work performed and brought to
Plaza.
references to Asian culture. The winning poster
life. It is the only theater company in Florida
chosen to promote the event was created by
dedicated to only producing new work.
NHIA senior, Will Preusch.
Continuing the relationships formed at NHIA, Lab has produced the work of four fellow alumni (Vicki Peterson, Stephen Ashworth, Jared Eberlein, and Judy Zocchi) as well as the work of its founder. Next season will feature the work of three other alums (Jen Potts, Sarah Lawrence, and AJ Delauder). Lab has recently been featured in Dramatist Magazine and a 30-minute special to air on August 24, 2017 on WEDU in Tampa. Lab has had continued growth in attendance and has begun to attract real
Andrea Joyce Heimer, 2017 MFA graduate,
notice from the community.
exhibited in the Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, NYC. The exhibit was selected as one of the top shows
2016 MFA Writing for Stage and Screen alumnus
of the week by the New York Times. She was
Sarah Lawrence recently wrote Bibo and
also selected for the 2017 Istanbul Biennial.
Einstein’s life, which was chosen for a residency
New York Times arts report Mel Bochne said
running clubs at NHIA, established for those
at the National Winter Playwrights Retreat
this about Andrea's work: “Andrea Joyce Heimer
who adore fashions, literature and music
in January 2017, and has been scheduled for
makes small acrylic paintings of scenes from
inspired by the Victorian Era, including but
a production at Tampa’s Lab Theatre Project
her adolescence and gives them long, narrative
not limited to steampunk, goth, Lolita and
in March of 2018. Duende, a play about the
titles, which have been written directly onto the
tea snobs. If you’re drawn to the spooky
rich cultural heritage of Spanish flamenco,
walls at Nicelle Beauchene gallery. These titles
and macabre, love historical costuming and
was selected for a residency by the Good to Go
could pass for flash fiction, but the paintings,
masquerade balls, think Alice in Wonderland is
Foundation and will be featured in a staged
with their marbled colors, eccentric drawing
the best story ever or just really like tea, this club
reading in New York in the fall of 2017. Liberty,
style and razor-sharp edges, have an unfiltered
is the place to go. The club hosts biweekly tea
a play about Patrick Henry’s wife, Sarah, came
excess of detail. What holds them together
parties, a special graveyard picnic in the fall and
in second in a national search for plays or
is their insight into the incongruity of early
just threw its annual smash-hit masquerade
novels suitable for adapting to the screen by
memories.”
ball. As artists, there is something to be learned
Script Pipeline. The stage play, which won the
from the past for each of us. Through the Neo
Southern Playwrights Competition and was
In July 2017, Yankee Magazine feature the work
Victorian club, you'll have a grand old time as
a national finalist at the Kennedy Center’s
of MFA alumnus Courtney Young.
31 New Hampshire Institute of Art
The Neo Victorian Club is one of the longest
Summer 2017
Bertie, a play about the last year of Albert
ON CAMPUS
FACULTY AND STAFF
exhibits. Her newest adventure is teaching after school programs using Uncharterd.org, working with Polaris Charter School, Mount Zion Christian Schools and Mass Housing and Urban Development in Lowell. Cannan is continuing to do an art supply drive for the kids, who sometimes don’t even have paper to do their homework on. James Chase was recently the juror for the national exhibition The Nth Degree at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Missouri and will be featured in the next issue of TAKE! Magazine. His work was highlighted in
Moriah Billups has joined NHIA as the Graduate Programs Coordinator. Moriah will serve both as a recruiter for the graduate programs and in an administrative support role for the graduate programs office. Moriah recently graduated from Boston College with a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration. While at Boston College, Moriah served as an advisor for the undergraduate government of Boston College. She also completed an internship with Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health where she worked with the admissions and recruitment programs for its hybrid master’s program in epidemiology. Earlier, she served as the student representative on the Board of Trustees at her undergraduate alma mater, Springfield College. Moriah has a background in dance and so she understands the dedication and passion that students pursuing an artistic field need to possess. Lucinda Bliss' recent project, Tracking the Border, received a 2016 Kindling Grant from the Warhol Foundation which supported a year-long inquiry into the 611 miles that make up the Maine-Canada border. The project included interviews with a Passamaquoddy Council member, a Maine geologist, a former border patrol officer and a forester, among from these conversations led her to question
32
boundaries physically—these navigations led
New Hampshire Institute of Art
Summer 2017
other. The stories and perspectives that emerged assumptions about the nature of borders that had far-reaching and personal implications. Exploring remote areas of the border, learning about the history of the land, experiencing its her to an unexpected body of work that draws on artistic precedents like Ana Mendieta and Richard Long. Amber Cannan’s Investigating Typography class is recently worked with the SEE Science Center to design posters, post cards, t-shirts and social media images for their events and
CREATE Magazine and he exhibited work in
Zach DeWitt, a recent graduate from
the nationally invited Nature’s Grasp portfolio
Montserrat College of Art with a BFA in
exhibition at the Lee Art Center in Arlington,
painting, joined us on April 10 as an admissions
Virginia.
counselor. In addition to experience in the admissions office, Zach has also worked in a
He was awarded funding by the Commission
number of galleries.
for Arts & Culture of the City of Rochester, NH to create multiple murals in the downtown
Writing for Stage and Screen faculty member
area this summer and was commissioned by
Shelley Evans' last several writing assignments
the Manchester Arts Commission to create a
have been for Hallmark's Movies & Mysteries
mural in the gaslight district for the Manchester
channel. "Dead Over Heels" premiered in March
Makerspace.
2017 and received the highest ratings of any mystery that has aired on the network. She is
Writing for Stage and Screen faculty member
currently writing the Morning Show Murders,
Kathleen Clark's new play, "Let's Live A Little,"
produced by the beloved morning show host, Al
was produced at Tucson's Invisible Theatre in
Roker.
April, 2017. On opening night, Kathleen was presented with the theater's annual Goldie Klein Guest Artist Award (past recipients include Lynn Redgrave, Ann Hampton Callaway and many other illustrative artists.) The play was well received and has a future production in the works. Podcast and graphic novel writing instructor Alexander Danner is the co-creator of Greater Boston, www.GreaterBostonShow.com, an ongoing speculative fiction podcast set in an almost-real Boston. It’s available on iTunes and all major podcast apps. Right now they are in their second season. He also contributed a story to Colonial Comics Vol II about free blacks
Abigail Fenerty, NHIA 2017 photography
remaining loyal to England leading up to the
graduate, accepted the position of social media
Revolutionary War.
assistant and campus photographer in the NHIA marketing department. She’ll spend her time managing multiple social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as managing campus photography for events, exhibitions and more. NHIA Illustration instructor Magge Gagliardi is currently serving as the illustrator and designer for Duffified Live, a weekly podcast starring celebrity chef Brian Duffy, best known for his work on the Food Network and the hit reality show Bar Rescue. Each week he interviews
ON CAMPUS
top professionals and celebrity personalities, for which Magge creates advertisements and illustrations. She is also currently working on craft beer label designs and branding for Sound View Brewing Company in Old Lyme, CT. Joel Gill presented his talk Our Stories Connect Us, an interactive lecture that deals with the disunity in society, explores the historical reasons why this disunity exists, and uses exercises to demonstrate that we are essentially one people with one shared story. Joel Gill was recently included in NH
As Youth Arts Director, Jaclynn Hart will
Yoav Horesh has joined NHIA as as the new
manage a range of programming for our local
Chair of Photography. Yoav succeeds the
Award.
teen population. This July, Jaclynn will usher
previous Chair of Photography and current New
in our inaugural series of Youth Arts Summer
Hampshire Artist Laureate, Gary Samson, who is
Rachel Gontarz joined us on April 17 as the
Sessions: one week, full day intensive workshops
retiring after teaching at NHIA for over 30 years.
Magazine’s 2016 “It List” and received Boston University’s 2016 Distinguished Alumnus
Director of Admissions Analytics and Systems. This is a new position that will focus on the science of student recruitment in support of admissions. Rachel has held admissions positions at Northeastern University in both the School of Business and the School of Law. She holds a BA in Mathematics and an MBA.
in a diverse range of disciplines. Youth Arts and Jaclynn’s purview will also include after-school
As Chair of Photography at NHIA, Yoav will be
and school vacation Art Lab Sessions, weekend
charged with strengthening and broadening
teen workshops, and continually evolving
the undergraduate photography faculty and
programming in partnership with ConVal High
curriculum which currently spans the field from
School and other local schools. With her strong
traditional darkroom and film techniques to the
advocacy for universal access to quality arts
latest in media technologies. In addition, Yoav
education, accomplished background in arts
will be integral in working with NHIA’s Teti
administration, and enthusiastic vision for local
Library staff to broaden awareness of and
teen population in and around Manchester,
access to the college’s extensive collection
Jaclynn is a true asset to the Youth Arts Program
of rare photographic books and original
and the college. Prior to joining NHIA, Jaclynn
photographic prints.
served as programming director for a non-profit
designer in the NHIA marketing department, where she’ll work on projects like literature design, brand development, video, campus signage and a whole lot more.
internationally in galleries and museums
access to 14,000 students annually in 32 city
including in Germany, Italy, Israel, the United
schools. She was recently recognized by the
States, Russia, Hong Kong and Myanmar.
Connecticut Arts Administrators Association for
His work has been featured in magazines,
her outstanding advocacy and achievements
art journals, and on websites across three
in the Hartford School District. Jaclynn’s
continents. He has also given public lectures
background also includes youth program
and artists talks in art schools, universities,
development in the Connecticut Department
and galleries in the United States, Israel,
of Children and Families’ system of care and
China and Europe.
in teaching acting and performance to youth audiences. She received her BA in Fine Arts from
Since completing his MFA from Columbia
Eastern Connecticut State University in 2007.
University in 2005, Horesh has taught in numerous universities in the United States,
In 2017, Dr. Karen Hillson, Art History faculty,
Hong Kong, Europe and Israel. Most recently
celebrates her tenth anniversary with NHIA.
he established and ran the Photography
Before Dr. Hillson arrived on campus in 2007,
Department for the Savannah College of Art
the art history curriculum was limited to a
and Design’s new Hong Kong campus. He has
few courses. Dr. Hillson was instrumental in
also taught at the Massachusetts College of Art
the development of the art history program,
and Design, Emmanuel College and in NHIA’s
which now offers a minor in art history as well
Graduate program in Photography.
as eighteen upper-division courses. Since she began overseeing the program in 2015, Dr. Hillson has added four courses that exemplify cultural diversity, including Arts of Africa and the Pacific.
Summer 2017
has accepted the position of full-time graphic
Born in Jerusalem, Israel, Yoav has exhibited
proving to be instrumental in their expanding
33 New Hampshire Institute of Art
Nikki Gregory, a 2016 NHIA design graduate,
arts education organization in Hartford, CT,
ON CAMPUS
Writing for Stage and Screen faculty member
National Archives in Washington, D.C. He has
Robert Lawson is working on Laws of
also received two visual artist fellowships from
Nature, a feature screenplay in development
the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
with 1st Avenue Machine (NYC/LA) and The Great God Sokolov, a feature film based on
Samson’s work at NHIA has had a profound
Karen Sunde’s play To Moscow which is in
impact on a generation of young photography
development with producer and NHIA alumnus
students. Over the past thirty years Samson
Steve Ashworth. The Ruins of Nicholas
has created an undergraduate photography
Raithe and The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus
program that teaches students traditional
are two projects Roberts has in development for
darkroom and film techniques while exposing
television. He is also working on Geometric
them to the latest new technologies: from the
Cemetery, a book of short fiction to be
daguerreotype to the digital. Students create
published this summer.
photographs as they were created over 100 years ago, but also learn advanced digital
Karen Mayeu was named head of the Graphic
image-making and editing techniques—skills
Design Department at NHIA this spring.
that few in the industry possess but many in
She also was awarded the Presidents’ Good
this highly competitive field desire.
Steward Award from Campus Compact for New Hampshire and was recently a judge
Established in 1997, New Hampshire’s artist
for Connecticut Art Directors Club and the
laureate is an honorary position that receives
Manchester Flag Design Competition.
no compensation.
Maureen Mills will be participating in the
After Brooklyn-based painters Jason Stopa
International Society of Ceramic Art Education
and Gaby Collins-Fernandez met while
and Exchange (ISCAEE) in July at University of
teaching at NHIA, they came together to create
the Creative Arts in Farnham England. She will
an exhibition Private Joy, at the Honey Ramka
be presenting a lecture titled “Conversations
Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
in Clay: An Overview of Historical and Contemporary Use of Text” and doing a surface
Craig Stockwell, MFA Visual Arts Director, was
decoration demonstration.
featured in the 2016 New England Biennial at DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.
Council confirmed Gov. Chris Sununu’s nomination of Gary Samson, NHIA Chair of Photography, as the next New Hampshire Artist Laureate.
34
Throughout his career, Samson’s commitment
New Hampshire Institute of Art
Summer 2017
On May 4, 2017 the New Hampshire’s Executive
collections for future generations has inspired
to creating and preserving photographic him to produce both films and exhibitions on New Hampshire history and culture. Samson’s work is in private and public collections including the Currier Museum of Art, the University of New Hampshire and the
CHAIR
Joseph Reilly New Hampshire Regional President, Eastern Bank
VICE CHAIR
Tom Stevens Chief Administrative Officer, KeyCorp, (Retired)
TREASURER
John Mercier Executive Vice President, Senior Loan Officer, Lake Sunapee Bank
SECRETARY
George Foote, Jr. Former President, Advantec
TRUSTEES
Elias (Skip) Ashooh Nick Bentley Howard Brodsky Suzanne Canali Ella Putney Carlson Ellie Cochran Ellen Davis Theresa Dolloff Tom Dougherty Benjamin Gayman Terry Heinzmann Elizabeth Hitchcock Karen Mayeu Maureen Mills David J. Murray Bill Stevens Phyllis Stibler
Independent Consultant Chairman, CEO and President, RiverStone Resources, LLC Chairman and Co-CEO, CGA Global Partners Faculty Trustee Alumni Trustee Retired Director of Philanthropy, NH Charitable Foundation Professional Artist Former Marketing Director, Cityside Corporation Former VP, Fidelity Investments Attorney at Law, Devine, Millimet & Branch P.A. Professional Artist Partner, 10X Venture Partners Faculty Trustee Faculty Trustee Principal, Clear Eye Photo President, Harvey Construction Corporation Founder, Stibler Associates LLC
TRUSTEE EMERITUS Maurice Beliveau Barbara Bickford
Lifetime Trustee Trustee Emeritus
CONTACT
This newsletter is published by the New Hampshire Institute of Art. © 2017 New Hampshire Institute of Art. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reprinted or reproduced in any form whole or in part without written permission. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, we apologize for any errors that do occur. To submit your news email alumni@nhia.edu. MANCHESTER CAMPUS 148 Concord Street Manchester, NH 03104 (603) 623-0313 info@nhia.edu www.nhia.edu SHARON ARTS CENTER CAMPUS 457 NH Rte. 123 Sharon, NH 03458 (603) 924-7256
Summer 2017
2017–2018
35 New Hampshire Institute of Art
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
148 Concord Street Manchester, NH 03104-4858
MEMBERSHIP REWARDS THE MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM AT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF ART OFFERS MANY BENEFITS TO OUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY AT BOTH OUR MANCHESTER CAMPUS AND SHARON ARTS CENTER CAMPUS IN PETERBOROUGH, NH. WE ARE EXCITED TO HAVE YOU JOIN US AS A PART OF A THRIVING COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS AND ART ENTHUSIASTS! AS A MEMBER, YOU WILL HAVE SPECIAL ACCESS TO A NUMBER OF BENEFITS ON BOTH CAMPUSES. Visit nhia.edu/membership. For questions contact us at membership@nhia.edu or (603) 836-2143.
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