Category Archives: Arts News

First Williston Art Walk

Dali by Pinky King
Dali by Pinky King

The first ever Williston Art Walk will take place on Friday, November 15th from 5:30-6:30 in the first floor of the Reed Campus Center. Featured will be work from the first trimester’s visual arts students. Student art work from drawing, design, painting, film and photography and art history classes will be on display. Stop by to support and celebrate our outstanding student artists the breadth and depth of Williston creativity. Everyone welcome!!

Dave Gloman exhibits in the Grubbs Gallery in October

Summer: Recent Paintings by Dave Gloman will be on exhibit in the Grubbs Gallery from October 2 – 30th, with an opening reception for the artist to be held on Sunday, October 6th from 2-4 pm.

Gloman has converted a large box truck into a mobile studio from which he paints directly outdoors. The dirt paths, fields and small streams around Hatfield provide him with  inspiration as they are constantly changing.

The show will include both large paintings and smaller works. Gloman says he has been “inspired by the heroic six foot paintings by 19th century English landscape painter, John Constable, and the heroic pastoral paintings of Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin.” In these new works, Gloman hopes to capture the essence of the locations in which he paints, and the feeling of being present in the moment by painting directly outdoors.

Dave Gloman is a Resident Artist at Amherst College where he teaches drawing and painting. The Grubbs Gallery is open on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The Answer To Wellness: Singing?

Recently, there has been a lot of conversation in the news regarding exactly what music, singing in particular, can do for the human condition and being. Many of you possibly read an article printed on the CNN Health Site which stated that feeling of connection one experiences while singing “may have a physiological foundation. A small study suggests people who sing together have synchronized heartbeats.” This fantastic article began an even broader conversation, both among musicians and scientists alike, on what the merits of music might truly be.

Let me take a moment to introduce myself: my name is Joshua Harper, a new faculty member in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at Williston. This year, I will be conducting The Caterwaulers, The Widdigers, The Middle School Chorus, and the Teller Chorus. If my course load does not tell you a little something about myself, I will just come right out and say it—I love choir, and I love to sing.

This year, my primary goal is to encourage students not only to use music and singing as an outlet for expression, emotion, and community, but also as another portion of a well-rounded and balanced education and lifestyle. However, with all the media attention on the benefits of singing, and the school’s renewed focus on wellness, I would like to advocate that music can also be a form of keeping one’s self “well”.

Continue reading

Exploring images in paint by Esther Kim

For the past third trimester, I was able to freely experiment and discover the subjects that I have been interested in using for my art. Among many of the subjects, I painted an image that I personally took in New York City, an image of Rihanna, and a photograph by Aaron Huey.

Over Spring break, I was walking down 11th street on 2nd avenue on a rainy, foggy day. I was waiting for the walking sign at the cross walk as many other people usually do every single day. When I was looking at the other side, however, there was an image that suddenly struck my head with emotions and an indecipherable urge to capture that image. A handicapped man with crutches was standing in the rain with a tiny Chihuahua next to him. I don’t know if it was because he was wearing sunglasses on a dark rainy afternoon, or because he had a cute dog next to him, but something certainly made me pull out my iphone to stealthily take a picture of this 4’ 8” tall man in the rain.

It was more than what I could describe. His posture and stature that I captured with my eyes and phone was just a valuable image for me to paint. The even more interesting part is that I saw him a couple of more times after that rainy day, and he did not carry the same aura he had that rainy day.

Continue reading

Can You Read These?

These colorful images are parts of Uyen Meow ’13 mural for Mr. Spearing’s Activity Office in Reed center. Can you guess what it is? It is a mural of the Williston Northampton’s school motto, “Purpose – Passion – Integrity”. The colorful and vibrant shapes in this mural are the transformation version of every single letter in our school motto. The artist use acrylic colors with bright tones to bring a lively and happy feeling to any art appreciator observing this mural. According to the painter, the random shapes in the painting expressed her free-spirited mind and the large opportunities she get to be creative during taking art program at Wiliston. Initially, She got inspired to do this painting by the enormous academic and life lessons about “Purpose – Passion – Integrity” that Williston taught her during my 3-years here. Uyen hopes that this motto, along with my mural, will continue to inspire active students, here, at Williston, to keep exploring and find their own true paths.
So, come and see it! Mr. Spearing will always welcome you to his office to see this fantastic piece of art!

A Tribute to Spain

What I based my artwork off of

The first time I really painted (in my life) was the fall trimester of this academic year. It was an awesome feeling walking over to my station in the studio, picking out what paint brushes to use, and blending different colors on my pallet. At the end of that trimester I did some work with acrylic paints. It was a contrast painting–the top half was a landscape visual of moonlit mountain while the bottom half was a sunset. I used one of Keith Haring’s symbols to represent a couple’s silhouette.

I chose this trimester to use that same symbol in my painting. I chose to do one large painting of a beach in Spain. As the sunset you could see the different blues, pinks, and yellows in the sky. Also because of the positioning of the sun you can see how the sunlight hits certain areas differently—for example the way it reflects on the water.

I knew from the very beginning that I wanted my study to have something to do with Spain. The summer after my sophomore year, I went with an abroad program to Spain for a month. We traveled about the country and I had the opportunity to do a two-week homestay in Ubeda, Spain. I chose to base my study off of a picture of this beach because I believe that my painting conveys a sense of romance in a way. I want to share with everyone the love that I developed for this town during my time there. The people, the culture, the language…it was all unforgettable. BUT, at the same time I did not want to choose a portrait that was too distinct either because I wanted everyone who views my work to be able to think back to that special place, person, or moment that made them as happy as Ubeda made me.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Beyond the Grain: Making a Wood Rim Steering Wheel

By Alec Guay

This past summer my family and I stopped for a cold treat at our local ice-cream stand.  We talked about my upcoming Senior year until a small car caught my eye. Here, just feet away, lay a silver Porsche Super Speedster strapped to the back of a flat bed. To most, this would seem like a broken down car on the way to the shop- but to me, I saw a story. Porsche started producing its first cars in the 1950s with the 356 and eventually the Super Speedster. This was the top of the line sports car in Europe, and only a handful remain in the States.  I ran over to the car and admired its smooth lines and beautiful craftsmanship. After talking with the owner, I learned it had just come from a full outer body restoration and was on its way to New York for an interior restoration. I was instantly intrigued with the idea of restoring a piece of automotive history and as the school year came around; I looked into how I could make my own piece of Porsche history.

In today’s market, professional restorations have begun to incorporate many handmade parts to replace the worn and time rotted pieces for a factory fresh interior. Specialists can remake and rebuild everything from the gas gauge to the ceiling lining in nearly exact or even better condition than they were fifty years ago.  This made me think how hard would it be to make my own steering wheel? Not just a shell or showpiece like anyone can buy, but one that I made with my own hands like they used to be made. After I had my mind set on the steering wheel, I began to look into the multiple types and differences that lay behind each wheel.

Continue reading

Laramie Cast Visits Middle School

The Williston Northampton School will present the spring production, The Laramie Project, on April 25-27 and May 2-4 at the Williston Theatre.

In conjunction with The Laramie Project, cast members are leading workshops in classes and dorms that address many of the themes raised in the play. The workshop series kicked off Friday morning in the Middle School.

8th graders share reflections from their experience with Phenomenological Listening.

Four cast members—seniors Gabe Byrd, Brian Hendery, Zack Maldonado, and Rachel Wender—engaged the Middle School student body in a workshop about community. The actors started with a familiar theater game, Zip, and then asked students to listen to each others’ stories about a time they experienced a strong sense of community. The task was to do more than simply listen, but to “phenomenologically listen.”

The actors learned about this term in a meeting earlier this spring when History and Global Studies teacher Diane Williams discussed techniques for leading social change workshops. This idea resonated with the actors, who have taken the concept onto the stage and into their workshop plans.

Continue reading

Local Artist Speaks at Grubbs Gallery

"Tiepolo's Dream," by Stern

“The only way for me to know what I’m doing, and do it again, is to let chance come into the equation,” said Northampton artist Chuck Stern.  This may sound contradictory, but, in his work, Stern puts emphasis on the evolving nature of creativity.

“Often it’s the things that are so beautiful that create a block,” he said.  Likening his painting process to writing Stern said, “Sometimes you put a sentence down, and it’s so cool, and you just want it there but the whole rest of the story is stuck with this sentence that has no relationship.”

The “blocking” imagery is covered in his art with white paint and then erased, to let the life of the painting continue.  But if you look closely, Stern leaves the white paint light enough to, “let the history of the painting show through,” he said.

“I like the way he describes his process so well, and encourages students to slow down and think of their work in terms of visual ‘problems’ to be solved,” said Natania Hume, Grubbs Gallery curator and a member of the Fine and Performing Arts faculty.

When Stern paints he approaches the canvas by asking himself, “What’s next?”  In the end he likes his paintings to be cohesive, but during the creative process he views his work as puzzles with a life of their own, he said.

Stern described the way he navigates his paintings as similar to camping before the invention of GPS and cell phones.  One student said he liked, “how [Stern) lets go and sees where the painting takes him.”