The Paul Mellon Art Center gallery walls are already adorned with the soon-to-be inaugurated exhibition of photographs, drawings, crafts and paintings that showcase the great talent of our peers, regardless of experience. In fact, as Ms. Jessica Cuni, the director of visual arts, states, “The purpose of the exhibition is to celebrate how much beginners can accomplish.” The creativity of crafts and charcoal drawings, the rawness of the black and white photographs, and the beautiful colored pictures capture the essence of Choate Rosemary Hall. The exhibition displays the hard work of students and Choate life in an artistic form.
Haley Williams’ ’18 charcoal drawing of mason jars is an interesting take on an otherwise ordinary object. She explains “I chose the drawing I did to display my development in the class.” Tatiana Louis ’19, another featured student, created a poster that pushes back the stigmas of being a black female, stating, “I wanted people to know there is more to being black than the stereotypes that are perceived. I want people to know that I am proud to be black.” Though perhaps simple, her work makes a statement — it is a carrier and a medium of expression.
Students in every area of visual arts chose the artwork that best represented themselves and their personality. Nathan Chang ’17, for instance, submitted some his favorite photographs of architecture of the many that he took in class. Nathan’s approach is incredible: it is simple, but the angle of the camera makes the architectural elements seem more complex. The black and white photography is also candid, raw and incredible to the eye. Mr. Robert Mellon, who teaches black and white photography, states that “The photos come from a variety of assignments and there is no unifying theme that each student was trying to display in this show.” The featured photography thus is beautiful in its sincerity, for it takes seemingly simple things, like architecture, to a whole different level.
The student art exhibition captures a thread of diversity and personal thought from each Choate student. With the differences in artistic fields and the varying themes showcased, the exhibition is a mosaic of our community. It is a microcosm, or a miniature representation, of our society here at Choate, so if you have not taken an art class, make your way down to the PMAC to see our community’s artistic self-expression.
