Studio Art

Our studio art program offers courses in drawing, painting, and multimedia to students at all levels of expertise. Students who complete introductory coursework in drawing and painting may choose to further their study of that discipline by “majoring” in studio art in the senior year. Majors take a full-credit Advanced Study course during the senior year that requires extensive, independent work and artistic production outside the classroom, with a goal of building an individual portfolio of ambitious original work.

In each fine arts discipline we teach, students are introduced to the core elements of the given language, and guided through a series of exercises that ensure them a basic fluency. We believe that any student can achieve this modest goal, regardless of prior experience or natural facility. Once our students have developed a familiarity with the building blocks of a visual art form, they are encouraged to embrace the process of gaining technical mastery, and to risk experimentation that might take them outside of their comfort zones. Each course is designed to offer progressively more challenging projects, with room for individual interpretation, so that both the beginning and experienced artist will find a tempo that both suits and challenges them.

Art history is also a key component to our studio arts curriculum. We ask arts students to constantly engage with images and art from different cultures and understand the historical context from which a particular art form or style emerged.

The O'Brien Arts Center is home to the Warner Gallery, which holds student exhibitions three times a year, and visiting artist exhibitions four times per year. These visiting artist exhibitions give students a chance to interact with professional artists and to witness the ways in which the artistic disciplines we teach in our classrooms can be pursued in the wider world. When combined with close contact with established St. Andrew's faculty artists who are continually pursuing their own artistic practices, our intensive visual arts training allows the student grow in her artistic understanding, creative capabilities, and tendency toward free expression. Our master-apprentice teaching model for the visual arts allows our students to gain a strong sense of the arts as a means for investigating and celebrating the world in which they live.

Studio Art Courses

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Semester-Long
Studio Art
Visual Arts

Payson Art History Lecture

The Payson Art History Lecture series brings a notable art historian to campus every other year, and in alternate years supports the installation of an exhibition by a visiting artist in the Warner Gallery. The Payson Art History Lecture was established in 2005 by Joanne and John Whitney Payson, in honor of John’s mother Joan Whitney Payson, and to celebrate the graduation of their daughter Joan ’05 from St. Andrew’s. Recent lecturers have included Victoria Wyeth (2024), Sarah Meister (2022), and Alexander Nemerov (2020).

Student Galleries

2020-21

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Painting

Photo

2019-20

2020 Visual Arts Galleries

Art Majors

Caitlin Shipley ’20 - Photo Major

Over this past year, I was very much drawn to the past and the difference in time periods. For my first project this year, which was shown at Parents Weekend, my collection gave off the vibe that it was taken on an older film camera and was a collection of photos of places that I have grown up with. My second major project was for the Winter Gallery Opening and I was inspired by the ’50s and ’60s. That probably had to be the biggest and most challenging project because it was shot in a studio with many models for the project. In the end, I loved how the photos turned out.

For this final project, I was inspired by the Lumineers "III" album and the way that it focused on people,
buildings, and stories from forgotten and abandoned towns. This wasn’t my original idea for my final
photo project and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how these photos were going to turn out, but in the end, I’m
glad that my idea changed. I have always loved history and learning about history so when my dad said
that he was going to take me on a “tour” of hidden places in the county that we live in, I was all for it. It
all started as a way to get me out of the house before the “stay at home” order was put in place. This
collection of photos is a collection of old, abandoned, and forgotten houses, barns, and other places that
are tucked away from the rest of the public or are not as obvious to the eye. What I like about these photos
and how they turned out is that when you look at the photos, you are immediately taken to the past and
can create a story right then and there.

I hope that you can create your own story from this collection of photos and jump back into the past!

Caitlin Shipley ’20 - Photo Major

Aubrey Malloy ’20 - Art Major

Throughout my entire arts career at St. Andrew’s, the majority of artwork I have made is oil paint on large canvases. I’ve always felt more comfortable with large work spaces; however, since Spring Break began, I’ve embarked on a new challenge involving tiny canvases and acrylic paint. My series for this Arts Weekend is entirely painted on footwear. This series has allowed me to focus on smaller details and intricacy in a way like never before. I have learned to appreciate each brush stroke because on such a small canvas, every drop of paint has a purpose. Furthermore, the amount of patience I have gained from this project is immense. Moving forward from this series, I hope to keep that same intensity and intricacy even when working on larger pieces.

On Building a Legacy of Being Yourself

For the past four years, one thing has stayed consistent: every time I’ve listened to a Chapel Talk, I have run through my head every way I would open my own talk. My sophomore year talk opened with a disclaimer about how I, and I quote, “May or may not cry.” But now, I’ve evolved, so I want to open with this: What I am about to talk about is not something I claim to know the answer to; it’s simply my experience and struggles. Before I start, you will need some background first.

I am the fifth person in my family to go to St. Andrew’s. Among the people on that list are my dad, both sisters, my dad’s great-uncle, and if I wanted, I could add my uncle, who didn’t last longer than a year for … disciplinary reasons. The reason I’m telling you all this is because today I want to talk about legacy. Legacy has defined my St. Andrew’s experience. For me, St. Andrew’s was this mythical place, out in Nowhere, Delaware, where everyone is social and you are always with someone. As I grew up, I heard stories of escapades and antics that my dad told. And as I finished elementary school, my oldest sister, Josie, started going here, and suddenly the dinner table was nothing but eccentric stories as my sister started sneaking out and bonding with teammates. Finally, my second sister, Parker, who some of you know, came here, and she was a little quieter, but she had a close group of friends and seemed to fit right in. And last but not least, I came here.

My first year here was interesting, to say the least. When I got here, I arrived on a campus where, for the last hundred-something visits, I was simply an observer. But it was finally time for me to be here, and lucky for me, my sister was still here. While this had its pluses, it also led me to introduce myself as “Parker’s brother, Grayson,” for at least the first week. This introduction of myself showed how I defined myself at St. Andrew’s. As my St. Andrew’s experience started, I learned a lot about myself. One thing in particular is that I am on the quieter side of people here.

After my freshman year came the biggest change in my life. My dad, Class of ’87, died suddenly on Father’s Day. As I came back to school the next year, everything felt different; every activity and location brought me back to one of my dad’s numerous stories from his time here. Being here was a blessing and a curse because it forced me to face my emotions and deal with my grief, whether or not I wanted to. One thing I learned after my dad died was that he was a troublemaker. As an example—and please, no one try this today—during his memorial service, I found out from one of my dad’s classmates that my dad had a car hidden down the road, and he would regularly take people for beer runs. Another of the antics included being in charge of Chapel Check-in, but gaming the system so it was impossible for people to get missed Chapel marks. And one of the stories that has been unearthed most recently is that within the span of weeks, my dad dated roommates, giving them both the same mixtape. And when I say the same mixtape, I mean the exact copy of it.

“I am the fifth person in my family to go to St. Andrew’s and struggled with comparing my experience to theirs. ... The reason I share this is because I want others to realize ... not everybody has to fit a mold. The expectations we have for ourselves are almost always impossible; no one lives up to every expectation, and maybe we’re not supposed to.” Grayson Friedli ’25

Now, you are all probably wondering why I am telling you this, and that’s because I am nothing like this. While yes, I’ve been told countless times how I have the same dry humor or the same cadence as my dad, I am not this mischievous social creature. And I don’t think I will ever be the person who launches my siblings off the roofs of cars like him (true story), and this was a big challenge for me: living in this place that screamed “legacy” while also being so different from my family. I quickly found myself comparing who I am versus who my family members were. I started having expectations for how I should act and how I should be socially.

My dad is not the only person I have started comparing myself to. My siblings both had vibrant social lives while here, regularly bringing friends home and reporting on all the drama. So as my time went on here, my fears developed. As I went through my junior and senior years, these fears expanded. I was the only family member not to be an RL, and despite getting to know my classmates better, I still felt lackluster. And as I kept feeling more and more subpar, I finally, after years, told a friend. I told this friend that I was feeling like I couldn’t socialize and that I was almost jealous of how they just had the ability to go and join conversations. But then, the response I got amazed me. My friend told me that they had the same thought about me, that I was the social one, and that they were almost jealous of me.

This response completely shifted my perspective on everything. Like I told you at the start, I don’t have all the answers. In fact, I still feel those expectations that I have for myself. When I go to dinner or walk out on to the Front Lawn, I still feel like I could be more. The reason I share this is because I want others to realize a few things. One, make sure when you tell yourself you have to do this or that, you ask “Why.” Are you doing it because it will make you happy, or because it’s something someone else would’ve done? Two, not everybody has to fit a mold. The expectations we have for ourselves are almost always impossible; no one lives up to every expectation, and maybe we’re not supposed to. Thank you.

Camille Strand ’20 - Art Major

Towards the end of last year I really enjoyed making slab-rolled pieces but never got the chance to fully flesh out my ideas. This year I concentrated on that form of ceramics exclusively. The collection of slab pieces have echoes of the source of my inspiration—nature—while also adding some geometric elements to it. I sadly didn’t get to create every piece I wanted to due to a number of circumstances, but I hope you all enjoy!

Campbell Nicholson ’20 - Art Major

For this series I wanted to explore emotion in visual art aligned with color and composition. All of these pieces are done with oil paint on canvas. For the first two in the series I focused on love and anger, whereas the third was a more personal reflection on the meaning of bittersweet. This was not my original plan, but quarantine pushed me to explore my feelings on leaving St. Andrew’s. Although the third painting doesn’t quite fit "nicely" next to the other two, I am very happy with all the experiences I had while painting them.

Georgina Ohrstrom ’20 - Art Major

Throughout this year I have made art that is related to my personal experience. My images are memories that bring me joy. Each piece shows a certain part of my identity. One is an image that reminds me of family, the Degas dancers because I have always found them elegant and calming, and finally the dragons because of my love of the mythical and mysterious. These are just some of the things that I find beautiful and that I have enjoyed creating in my own personal way.

Ginger Mullins ’20 - Art Major

In my independent project, I wanted to explore the feelings that are associated with places and the notion of home. These three houses are places that I’ve spent many holidays and places where I have made important memories through my life. In these works I wanted them to evoke the feelings I feel when I think of these places, rather than a carbon copy of the image of that place. The experience of working on these pieces overall was very exciting and fulfilling, and it was nice to explore the notion of home as I move on to college.

PS: A huge thank you to Mr. Westman for taking photos of my pieces that were stuck at school!!

Ingrid Hoopes ’20 - Art Majors

For this series, I wanted to create pieces that were a connection and representation of my entire life. I have lived in a couple of very different places and I wanted to showcase that through my homes. These include houses from Delaware all the way to the camper van I lived in when I was in New Zealand. I used oil paint and a lot of texture to give as much life as I could to these paintings.

Karen Paredes ’20 - Art Major

Going into the second semester, I knew that I wanted to get back into portrait art. Last year, I had initially thought the process with my charcoal drawing was going to be difficult and disappointing. However, the end result and the many weeks I spent on it caused me to truly appreciate the process and gave me more confidence in my abilities to pull off something that I thought was too hard for me. This year in particular, I also grew to have an appreciation for bright colors. While oil paint was not my favorite choice of medium since it did not give me the opportunity for small details like charcoal could give me, the way in which it presents itself on the canvas is unlike any other. Thus, I decided to take a slightly different route and use chalk pastel and watercolor as the mediums for my portraits. This allowed me to focus on the small yet important detailing while still bringing color to the page.

Lilly Howard ’20 - Art Major

My goal for this project is to show the beautiful rawness of human connection with yourself, the people you love, and nature through art. Human relationships and nature are some of the most important things to me in the world. These are the things that help us come alive. Like a flower, or a tree, life has growing stages, and they are not always pretty. My goal with this project is to express the raw beauty of the human soul through art. Art makes me feel the way I feel when I am in nature being present and lost in what I am looking at at the same time. They are both beautiful creations, like the human body.

Miles Abney ’20 - Art Major

My grandmother’s green car was passed down to me when I was 16 and she had become too weak to drive it. I was beyond excited to have a car, regardless of its unique color. I totaled the car the summer before my junior year, which was a particularly difficult moment as it took place only a few years after her passing. I hadn’t realized how special she was to me until she was gone, and, once the car was gone too, it felt like I had lost a large part of my connection to her as well. Less than a year before she passed I lost my uncle, making the year particularly hard for my mom's side of the family. The car, my uncle, and my grandmother mean the world to me and to my family, which is why I have chosen to explore these events in my life through art. Although these moments have been sad and painful, the joy and hope we have found since has taught me a lot and exploring them artistically has helped me better understand my feelings and channel them in a positive way.

Spencer McKenzie ’20 - Art Major

This collection of pieces is really special to me, not because they are the prettiest or most technically correct. I would say they are very far from it. However, they are special to me because they were the first pieces that I created without the guidance of my mentor, teacher, and friend Mrs. Elizabeth McGiff. I dedicate this collection to her because they represent a culmination of everything that Mrs. McGiff strove to teach me. In making this collection I took risks with shape and color, I challenged myself, I faced difficulties with the ceramic process (kilns are so hard to use), I fell out of love with ceramics, I went back to the basics, I asked for critical advice, I failed, succeeded, and failed again. It is common for people to look at a piece of ceramic art and deem it to be simple and, therefore, somehow less impressive; however, this process proves that it is anything but simple. Despite this artistic process has been grueling, frustrating, and upsetting, it was also fun, enlightening, and gratifying. Looking back, I would not have wanted to change a single step of it.

Yuhan Wu ’20 - Art Major

For my past drawings, I always focused on a snapshot or a specific, static moment of a story. So for this independent project, I wanted to try something different by telling a continuous story, and I chose to tell my own story. During the first eighteen years of my life, my family moved a lot, and I changed many schools. Every place I’ve been to is special to me, so I chose the places that are the most significant to me to put them on canvas. The first place is the park right across from my home when I was in elementary school. I went there with my parents and friends almost every day. The second place is my middle school; I was there for only two years, but I made some of my best friends till today. I tried to use different colors for the trees to represent the timeline. The yellow in the first painting represents my time in elementary school when I was childish and carefree. The second painting has orange and red trees because the colors show my excitement and growth. It was my first time trying oil painting; it was challenging, yet it was interesting to work with the combination of oil painting and pencil drawing. I was going to continue with this combination for the next places. Although I couldn’t finish this series the way I wanted to, I’m still continuing to draw the next places with watercolor.