Nicole Pellaton
A watercolor painting submitted by PEA theater and dance department designer and technical director, Cary Wendell
Exeter, NH (February 16, 2009)—From Wednesday, February 18, through Sunday, March 7, the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will present Hidden Treasures 2: Works by Phillips Exeter Academy’s Faculty and Staff. This exhibit will feature a variety of photographs, paintings, ceramics, drawings, quilting, woodworking, digital works and fiber jewelry by 27 Academy employees. The artists’ opening reception will be held on Friday, February 20, from 5:00–8:00 p.m. The Lamont Gallery is located in the Frederick R. Mayer Art Center on Tan Lane. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Lamont Gallery Director, Karen Burgess Smith, offers a historical and descriptive perspective of the exhibition. “The first “Hidden Treasures” took place in 2005 and the response by students, faculty and staff to the works in the show was phenomenal. The new Hidden Treasures 2 will introduce gallery visitors to the talents of the folks who work here at Phillips Exeter Academy. How and where else would you learn that the “Website Managing Editor” creates colorful and soft jewelry that you can wear on your arm, or wrist? Or, that the “Science Department Chair” has a great photographic eye? And, that the “Staff Assistant in the Dining Services” is quite a quilter? Each of the 27 artists represented in this exhibition bring their “other” lives here, their talents and artistic visions.”
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Nicole Pellaton
Baskets woven by college counseling's administrative manager, Lynn M. Seidenberg
Here is a sampling of some of the artist statements, and the inspirations and the creative processes of our talented staff and faculty members:
Sue Althof, staff nurse says, “I was 7 when my mom taught me how to knit. For the past 23 years I was a member of Rockingham Craftsmen here in NH and President for 10, selling my hand knit sweaters, Christmas stockings, etc. I now plan to devote time to knitting fun things for me and my family, especially my 3 grandsons!
My entry is a Norwegian sweater I knit in 1990 (something I always wanted to master since am half Norwegian) that won the Needlework Special Award at the 1990 Deerfield Fair. I took a class because the thought of cutting my knitting was a bit scary! The pattern was in Knitters Magazine. The sweater was knit on circular needles and done entirely by hand using 2 ply Brown Sheep wool and a traditional pewter clasp.”
Stacey Durand, program coordinator/Summer School says she’s lived in and around many New England coastal towns and has been drawn to the seacoast and the regional character of it cities and buildings. Her entry is a triptych landscape painting. “These neighborhoods are often filled with old homes that are packed and stacked together, creating interesting arrangements and constructions.
These overlapping homes, quirky old seacoast buildings, and urban landscapes have been the subjects of my most recent work. I am drawn to the layers, clutter, junctions, and connections that these objects create. In many ways my art-making process reflects my strong interest in these places. This can be seen through my use of over-lapping, collaged materials, photocopies, and photo transfer techniques. I use acrylic paint, graphite, and charcoal to add color and create new connections between the images of buildings that I have collected. It is the act of creating and finding these connections in my paintings that interests me most,” she says.
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Nicole Pellaton
Colorful athletic drawing by modern languages instructor, Fermin Perez-Andreu
Jim DiCarlo, science department instructor, will show a musical instrument he crafted out of bent wood. He says, “I've always been intrigued by bent wood. As a student at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Townsend, WA, I learned about the art and technology of woodworking in curves during a sabbatical year. With some of my newly acquired skills, I designed and built this dulcimer. Not including the cocobolo accents, the wood in this instrument was salvaged from the boat school's burn pile. The Appalachian dulcimer is a diatonic instrument: it plays essentially in one key. This explains somewhat strange spacing of the frets – it's designed so every note is a good one!”
Rosanna Salcedo, a modern languages instructor, is showing a painting that depicts a summer in her childhood. She says, “This past September I picked up a paintbrush for the first time in 15 years. Although I have always been interested in art, in all its forms, I have not always made time for it in my life. But there is no doubt that through art (especially music, dance, drawing and painting) I connect with my innermost self, with my spirit. For me, painting is personal and spiritual. I learn something about myself with every piece. "Pensativo" in English means pensive, contemplative, preoccupied, lost in thought. It is a portrait of my brother Angel, my childhood companion, at age…five? We spent that summer in the Dominican Republic playing in, among, and between the fruit trees, on my grandparents' farm. It represents a simpler time in our lives; a time of innocence, curiosity, and wonder.”
Sam Coes, a facilities building manager and pool technician, will display a woodworking Nativity. He explains, “I have been doing small projects in woodworking for approximately 20 years as a hobby. In addition to this item, I have made clocks, moosehead coat racks, small toys and some carved bookends. Most of my work has been given as gifts to my children and grandchildren although I have sold a few things on commission. When I retire, I will spend more time in my shop. This Nativity is constructed of oak, black walnut, maple and birch. The figures are from a pattern. The creatures are my own design. The lights can either be oil as you see here or votive candles.”
The exhibit’s artists are:
Cary Wendell, Designer / Technical Director / Department of Theater and Dance
Elena Gosalvez Blanco, Modern Languages Department
Nicole Pellaton, Website Managing Editor / Communications Office
Lynn M. Seidenberg, Administrative Manager / College Counseling Office
Scott Saltman, Science Department Chair
Rosanna M. Salcedo, Modern Languages Department
Peggy Moran, Teacher / Harris Family Childrens’ Center
Hunter Farnham, Student Adviser
Margaret C. Schoene,Librarian Assistant, Class of 1945 Library
Marilee Tuomanen, Advanced Support Specialist / Information Technology
Sally Wentworth-True, Facilities Coordinator / Harris Family Childrens’ Center
Jim DiCarlo, Science Department
Stacey Durand, Program Coordinator / Summer School
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Courtesy of Lamont Art Gallery
Watercolor painting by summer school coordinator, Stacey Durand
Sue Althof, Staff Nurse / Lamont Health and Wellness Center
Stephanie Denson, Manager / Human Resources
Mercy Carbonell, English Department
Mary E. Driscoll, Director / Harris Family Children’s Center
Fermin Perez-Andreu,Modern Languages Department
Chris Harper, Lab Technician / Science Department
Connie Macdonald, Staff Assistant in Major Gifts / Alumni/ae Affairs and Development
Sam Coes, Building Manager, Pool Technician / Facilities Management
Christina Brown, Program Assistant in Annual Giving / Alumni/ae Affairs Development
Donna Hilton, Physics Lab Technician / Science Department
Renae Dutile, Systems Support Specialist / Information Technology Services
Chris Wronsky, Director of Planned Giving / Alumni/ae Affairs and Development
Bobbie Jameson, Staff Assistant / Dining Services
Anne Pleatsikas, Facilities Designer / Planner, Facilities Management
Gallery hours are Mondays 1–5 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed on Sundays. For further information, contact the Lamont Gallery at (603) 777-3461. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call (603) 777-4330. A complete list of upcoming events is available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309 and on our website at http://www.exeter.edu/.
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