Visual Arts Concentration Smaller Than Most; Students Labor in Isolation
By Lindsey Kumar ‘08
News Reporter
Choate Rosemary Hall is a school off enormous variety in its curricular and extracurricular offerings. Programs like Capstones and directed studies allow students to study what interests them free of course catalogue restrictions, and the choices for after school activities aren’t any less widespread. While many schools across the country offer the traditional alternative of joining a sports team or signing up for gym class, students at Choate have multiple directions to potentially pursue. Arts Concentration is a well-known alternative to athletic activities, but the typical image linked to the program involves theater or music.
A lesser-known sub-set of the Arts Concentration program specializes in the visual arts. The program currently consists of four dedicated students and three faculty advisers: Mr. Mellon, Ms. Gustin, and Mr. Bradford. Participating students work about four afternoons a week for two hours, and confer with their designated teacher on their art. Kamsen Lau ‘07, who specializes in painting and sketching, describes the program as an “independent study in art.” Over the course of the year, each student works to create art for a final show and to put in a portfolio, which they can present to colleges.
These four students have more than an after school activity in common; there is a consensus within the group that the Visual Arts program at Choate is underappreciated. Choate has a natural inclination to give the most support to bigger artistic projects and this bias doesn’t go unnoticed by the visual artists. Loren Olson ‘08 cites lack of promotion, relatively “few faculty members with limited availability” as a some source that has prevented the program from reaching its full potential. “Instead of buying new equipment, we’re going on fieldtrips. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but we can do that independently,” Olson, who studies metal-smithing, elaborated. Margo Herre ‘07 agreed, and explained, “I’m trying to organize smaller student art shows each term because I don’t think that visual arts students get enough credit in comparison with the performing arts.” She uses her time in Arts Concentration to flex her strengths in photography.
Since the Visual Arts Program doesn’t feature an end project requiring group effort, the program feels very independent. Olson added, “There’s not really a sense of community fostered between the different visual artists…We don’t have a play or orchestra we all come together in.” She speculates that this emphasis on the individual rather than the group might contribute to some of the program’s unpopularity. The numbers tell all: the visual arts program has four members, but there are seven involved with music, sixteen involved with theater, and two who study both.
While the Visual Arts Concentration Program might not receive all the attention it deserves, the students are reaping benefits—especially sixth formers Lau and Herre. Lau has presented his portfolio at Brown University, while Herre has already been accepted to by the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Institute of Art. Fifth formers Olson and Aeri Kwon ‘08 will go through similar processes next year, while the rest of us will have to depend on grades, extracurricular activities, and SATs.
