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On the Arts
Don’t call it a comeback. A Lawrenceville alumnus who returned to campus in 2016 as a Penn Teaching Fellow, Stuart Robertson ’11 H’18 in May was named the School’s first Artist-in-Residence. The two-year appointment, which begins with the 2021-22 academic year, will give Robertson studio space in the Gruss Center for Art and Design (GCAD) and time to produce his own work, maintain and develop outside gallery connections, and run co-curricular programs for Lawrentians.
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“Perhaps most exciting, Stewy will be a visible presence in his open studio, working on his own work – serving as both a model and mentor for our student artists,” said Chris Cunningham P’14 ’18, assistant head of school and outgoing dean of faculty.
Robertson is eager to return in his new role. “I hope I can help to build a more robust and self-sustaining culture around the visual arts similar to the amazing work done by the performing arts program,” he said. “As a student and Fellow, I witnessed Lawrentians volunteer their time and energy to stage serious productions all year. I plan to facilitate students’ discovery of new options for creating, archiving, and sharing traditional artworks and contemporary visual media.”
Robertson recently completed his M.F.A. in art practice at Stanford University, where he taught classes and mentored undergraduate art honors students in the university’s department of art and art history. He was a teaching fellow at Lawrenceville from 2016-18 as he earned his master’s degree in education through the University of Pennsylvania Independent School Teaching Residency program. Robertson received a B.A. in studio art from Davidson College.
New Artist-in-Residence Stuart Robertson ’11 H’18 is a mixed-media artist with an interest in representing life within the African diaspora.
End of the Year Brings a First
For the first time, the Lawrenceville Philharmonic Orchestra presented an outdoor concert – the final on-campus performance for some Fifth Formers. The Orchestra Under the Stars concert on May 14 in the Bowl featured musicians playing works by Brahms, Holst, RimskyKorsakov, Wendy Carlos, and Florence Price. The Senior Musical, presenting songs from Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World, was on May 16 in Keuffel Stadium. Directed by Eleni Lefakis ’21, the musical featured Fifth Formers Zack Finacchio, Arata Fujii, Anjali Kumar, and Gabby Medina. The Lawrenceville Philharmonic Orchestra filled the Bowl with selected works on May 14.
Bowled Over by the Bard
Lawrenceville took “Shakespeare in the Park” to a completely new level, presenting three of the Bard’s plays – simultaneously – outdoors, alongside the Bowl in May. Second Formers put on tenminute versions of Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night for an audience that rotated among the three shows. The productions were created, rehearsed, and performed in keeping with Lawrenceville’s Best for All agreement under the leadership of Matt Campbell, Lawrenceville’s director of theatre. rendered by a dozen talented performers.
Sofia Carlisi ’24 performed as “Puck” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream around the Bowl with Sameer Menghani ’24 as “Lysander” and Aoife Kilfeather ’24 as “Titania.”
