It was an amazing surprise to see the walls of the Paul Mellon Arts Center (PMAC) full of new and unseen art when students walked into Choate’s annual registration at the beginning of the year. To many people’s surprise, however, the art was not student-made this time. It was created and showcased by the group of faculty members who spend hours teaching students their finest skills. The faculty featured in the exhibition were Ms. Jessica Cuni, Mr. Robert Mellon, Ms. Jane Gustin, Ms. Catherine Adams, Mr. Ken Lovell, and Mr. Willard Lustenader.
Ms. Cuni exhibited two of her photo series. The first consists of four self-portraits taken in a stream, in which she has replicated herself, carrying her youngest baby. To do this, she did not hire a lookalike, but instead used Ms. Kegel’s hand and legs as replacements for her own, then Photoshopped these photos. Her second series of photographs were taken on her latest trip to Cuba with a travel grant from Choate, accompanied by two other Choate teachers. Ms. Cuni is originally from Cuba but her family, who immigrated to New York, has not returned in sixty years, and thus she was greatly appreciative of the opportunity to return to Cuba this summer. She said, “I was able to track down my family and actually meet them while I was there, which was very special. For the faculty show, though I took more than 1,000 photos during this 11 day trip, I chose to focus on my portraits of some of the people I met. It was wonderful to meet new people. Their warmth has really stayed with me.”
On the other hand, Ms. Jane Gustin exhibited a wide range of media, ranging from paintings and ink drawings to collages. Her favorite piece began as something to “mess around with,” but the big black paper ended up becoming one of her favorite creations. The technical complexity of this piece is amazing, and has a beautiful meaning behind it. According to Ms. Gustin, the inspiration for this piece came from some of the current events that have left her, like many others, utterly devastated. “The way I was feeling with all of the political activity and terrorism, everything seemed to be on edge, and things kept moving. You can’t hang on to anything, so that’s what it was all about.”
Edith Conekin-Tooze ’19, who has walked by the pieces hanging in the PMAC gallery several times, stated, “I was excited to see how talented our teachers were. We normally exhibit our own pieces, but now the tables have turned.”
There was no overall theme for the exhibition. Instead, it was an eclectic compilation of different forms of talent in the visual arts. It is truly a privilege for students and other members of the community to see the work of the professionals that live and teach in our community.
