Faculty News Linda Gardiner “Best in Show” Director of Lower School and Assistant Head Linda Gardiner was awarded the “1st Place, Best in Show” award along with partner Christey Robinson at the Garden Club of America flower show, “There is a Season, Turn, Turn, Turn!” in September. Their arrangement was part of Division I/Class 2, and won Best In Show: Floral Design as well as the North Shore Garden Club Jane Greenleaf Award. “Arranging flowers is like painting/sculpting/designing with natural materials,” says Gardiner. “The textures, the shapes, the colors, and the fragrance are your tools and the canvas is wide open for you to create...Creating a tablescape to complement the arrangement was great fun. I’d never done anything like this before, so it was a surprise and honor to win.”
Lizzie Wright, Solo Sculpture Exhibition “Water Bowl,” made from rulers bent out of shape by GVS students.
Crafts teacher Lizzie Wright mounted a solo exhibition of her original sculpture at top New Orleans gallery Good Children last fall. The show, entitled “Pet Turtle,” explores the form and symbolism of a 60-million-year-old species. Whether by literal depiction or through references to the world of pet turtles (water bowls, heat lamps, habitats), Wright employs both recycled and at-hand materials. Some works also feature glazed ceramic turtle shells cast from the shell of her own childhood pet. Wright received an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University. She has exhibited at a variety of spaces in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Her work has been reviewed by various publications including The New Yorker and New Art City.
Faculty Professional Development Day Once a year, Green Vale devotes a day to a full-faculty professional development schedule. This year, divisions rotated among themed workshops led by outside experts. Some topics included:
Recycling Meets Play, Early Childhood Lisa Zaretsky is the founder of playAGAIN, an early childhood program based on the importance of unstructured play for a child’s development and social/emotional wellbeing. She led a workshop on the use of repurposed materials in the classroom. “Anything children can manipulate — move, change shape, etc — you will always have success with it.” She showed how this can foster decision-making, problem-solving, conversations, deep exploration, creativity, and creative thinking.
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