Five Barbies stand side-by-side dressed in hand-knit clothing, their backs facing photos of cities across the world. This was one collection of artwork featured in the Eastern Star Gallery’s first exhibit of the year, which opened Sept. 11 during lunch. The gallery featured faculty and staff members’ art and included many mediums, such as photography and ceramics.
Before the first week of school, Eastern Star Gallery co-director and photography teacher Marya Alford sent out an email to Archer’s faculty and staff announcing the show. She and her co-director and visual arts teacher Hannah Kremin received submissions online and in-person. Members of the Eastern Star Gallery then curated and installed the show, doing everything from determining the exhibit’s layout to hanging up each piece.
English teacher Sarah Rubin started taking ceramics classes in 2022. She said the piece she displayed in the gallery was one of the first she felt proud of, but she dropped it immediately after taking it home from the studio. While she said she was upset at first, she decided to reframe her perspective and embrace its flaws. She glued the shattered pieces back together and used molding plastic to smooth out jagged edges.
“That piece I like a lot, not because it’s the most beautiful, but because it’s a reminder to me that mistakes happen, and you just have to learn from them,” Rubin said. “I put silly little expressions in there like ‘uh oh’ and ‘oops’ to be transparent about the fact that this was maybe not how it started off, but that there could still be joy, humor and fun in the place that it ended.”
Students of all grade levels wandered through the gallery. They observed the array of artwork created by faculty on display, including Musical Theatre Director Samara Kelly’s abstract painting “Desert Road,” visual arts teacher Sally Chung’s painted vase “The Fighter” and Head of Scholastic Journalism Kristin Taylor’s photos of Ireland. Senior Parker Keston explored the exhibit between class periods and said Rubin’s ceramic piece especially stuck out to her.
“I loved Ms. Rubin’s ceramics piece that she dropped and filled the cracks with lighthearted phrases about making mistakes,” Keston said. “It was a beautiful piece on its own, but I also loved its overall message and how I could see her personality in it.”
This was math teacher Gemma Oliver’s first year participating in a show at Archer. She displayed a handmade quilt titled “Summer Stars.” Oliver started quilting during the pandemic, mainly creating quilts for her nieces and nephews. Oliver said she enjoyed bringing her hobby to school, and the exhibit created opportunities for connection between students and faculty.
“It’s cool to give students a chance to see a side of their teachers that they might not always see and that we have hobbies that are outside of our subject areas,” Oliver said. “It was also interesting looking [through the gallery] and being like, ‘Oh, I had no idea that they even painted.”
Keston said learning more about her teachers through the show allowed her to forge deeper connections with each of them.
“I find that when I have a teacher I really know and can connect with, it makes learning in that class become more enjoyable and creates a more positive experience overall,” Keston said.
After last year’s faculty and staff art show, Rubin said she was able to learn more about her colleagues and connect with other teachers through shared interests, such as embroidery. She said the exhibit offered teachers the chance to share other aspects of their lives and identities with the Archer community.
“Last year’s show and this year’s show were both so delightful to me because there are these sides of teachers that I really don’t get to see because we don’t necessarily have the opportunity to talk about them in our day-to-day experiences,” Rubin said. “I love seeing what people do to enrich their lives with art outside of their working hours.”
