Washington College Magazine
The Revolution Continues: The State of the Arts
By Eric Mills
Washington College has been a haven for the arts ever since Charles Willson Peale's sister-in-law began teaching painting here in 1783. One of the pillars of the College's 225th aniversary theme, the arts today are flourishing.
Journey's End, featuring Alpha Peterson '08 as the sargeant major, was one of six senior thesis productions staged last year. The play was directed by Chas Libretto '06, with a senior thesis set design by Heather Holiday '06.
Photo: Paul Gillespie
When Elizabeth Callister Peale and her sister Sarah Callister gave instruction in painting and drawing to the College's first class of undergraduates in 1783-1784, they made history. The two women were the first female faculty members ever employed by an American college or university.
Elizabeth was the sister-in-law of the great American portrait artist Charles Willson Peale (who painted our namesake on more than one occasion). She also designed the Washington College seal. So we've always been a school with boast-worthy art connections.
Today, the Department of Art is a vital part of the cultural life of the region, offering several major lectures a year, including the Janson-La Palme Distinguished Lecture in European Art History, which draws standing-room-only crowds. Among students, the popularity of the art program is growing. The Student Art Exhibit, a showcase of paintings, drawings, ceramics, photography and new media, is one of the cultural highlights of the year.
"We have a great deal of momentum at present, with some 20 majors graduating this year and upwards of 400 students taking art or art history in a given year," says Donald McColl, the department chair.
The department has added tenure-track hires in art history and studio art, and an endowed chair in art history, funded by John Underwood in memory of his wife, Nancy. This spring, Underwood provided an encore—a $1.5 million gift for the Gibson Performing Arts Center lobby, where student art will be displayed. To top it off, Washington College parents Benjamin and Judy Kohl have pledged the funds to create the Kohl Art Gallery in Gibson.
Andrew Wapinski, a visiting lecturer in art, is a prolific painter. Shown here is a detail from "Sea Fragment," part of his 32-panel Coastal Interpretations collection.
"There is a lot of interest, and a lot of talent among the students," says art lecturer Robbi Behr, a printmaking and digital imaging instructor who praises student artists in equal parts for their talent, their devotion and their undaunted creativity in the face of studiospace limitations. One of several working artists on the faculty, Behr is a freelance illustrator who works in pen-and-ink and gouache. Her work is displayed at the Carla Massoni Gallery in Chestertown and at the HMK Gallery in Washington, DC.
She is part of a collaborative book-publishing venture with her husband, writer Matthew Swanson.
Other faculty talent includes Monika Weiss—one of her works appeared in the March issue of ARTnews, she has exhibited in New York, and her work is on view in public collections from Vienna to Miami—and Andrew Wapinski, whose work is on view in Philadelphia's Gallery Siano and is featured in the April edition of New American Paintings.
If the studio artists add color to the arts-colony vibe on campus, it is the musicians who make it sing. Tucked away in makeshift classrooms, vocal studios and rehearsal spaces, students and faculty make music together. With their classical training, professors Garry Clarke and Amzie and Elizabeth Parcell have devoted their careers to providing performing opportunities for students. Newcomers Catherine Anderson (a vocalist focusing on art song) and Kenneth Schweitzer (an ethnomusicologist and percussionist focusing on jazz and world music) bring new dimensions to the music department. Add several homegrown student bands to this mix, and you've got a lively music scene.
Amanda Boutwell '08 designed the invitation for the annual Student Art Exhibition, incorporating the work of nine thesis students.
At the confluence of classical, jazz and modern training is Ian Trusheim '07, a music major whose parents, Dale '72 and Mary Ellen Gentry Trusheim '77, were once students of Garry Clarke. The younger Trusheim, who grew up listening to classic rock and the music of his dad's band, Fat Shadow, has studied piano with Elizabeth Parcell and composition with Clarke. He plays jazz piano and bass guitar in Schweitzer's jazz and Afro-Cuban ensembles; he performs regionally with the bluesy Chester River Runoff; and he recruited other student musicians to perform as The Big Picture, a progressive rock band that incorporates elements of jazz, folk and even some classical musical influences. In April, he performed his senior thesis: four original compositions.
"We're going to be paying to see him play one day," predicts Tom Anthony, a master of stringed instruments who taught Ian to play both the electric and upright basses. "He's certainly versatile," demonstrating proficiency on drums and vocals as well as piano and guitar.
Adam Schuman '07, a psychology major, and Marc Frankel '07, a business major, are part of the popular five-piece Jazz Combo. To hear some recordings, visit schweitzer.washcoll.edu.
Schweitzer is losing several senior musicians to graduation, so he's happy to learn that Trusheim plans to stay in Chestertown, at least through next year. The jazz combo, which featured some phenomenal talent, will need him to help the new ensemble live up to the reputation of its predecessors.
These students know their jazz. "The combo has about three to four hours of standard repertoire and typically learns two or three pieces every week," says Schweitzer. "In its two-year history, the group has performed nearly 30 times, both on and off campus." The group is often booked for alumni events, as well as for regional performances and gigs at Rock Hall's Mainstay. When the opportunity presents itself, Schweitzer recruits jazz musicians for the Afro-Cuban ensemble—a new group that reflects Schweitzer's passion for drumming.
The musicians perform three distinct types of Afro-Cuban music: the popular Son and Bolero (styles most Americans know as the music of the album and movie Buena Vista Social Club), folkoric Rumba and religious Batá drumming (Schweitzer's salient field of expertise).
Maybe it has something to do with all the music in the air, but dance thrives here, too. The dance company, under the direction of Karen L. Smith, currently has about 30 members. "We've always had a dance program, but since it's not a major, the size of it fluctuates depending on the interest level at any given time," says Hilary Sama '07, the dance club president. Sama is thankful to have been part of the recent wave of dance interest. In her freshman year, the College offered a couple of classes in ballet and tap; the number of dance classes has since grown to nine, and includes sessions in jazz, lyrical, modern, pointe, even Nepali—a traditional dance taught by Shri Puri '07. All this rich variety of movement is on view at the annual spring dance concert, which draws crowds of about 400. From the dance classes, a dance team has emerged. The Sho' Troupe, entirely student run and choreographed, performs at home basketball games.
The Washington College Dance Club, pictured here at a recent spring concert, has been dancing under the radar but aspires to greater recognition within the curriculum.
"Dance has been really successful the last three years," says Sama, who is lobbying to have dance established as a minor within the drama department. "I think we could become one of the strongest performing arts programs here."
If that happens, they would join one of the most active departments on campus. "We do keep pretty busy," says the department chair, Dale Daigle. In 2005-2006 alone, he kept track of 41 majors and 12 productions.
The department produced three graduating seniors among the top 20 in their class, a duo biology major who took home the Jane Huston Goodfellow Memorial Prize, an SGA president, and even an Academy Award (presented to Carrie Smith '98 for special effects on Spiderman 2).
Since 2001, the department has tallied 62 productions. It takes devoted drama majors to make such an exhaustive production schedule possible. "But in addition to the hard core, we have another 100 or so students who get involved with productions every year," points out Daigle. "We touch a lot of people on campus."
Between all the various troupes and groups, the lines of distinction blur. The Writers' Theatre runs in synch with Rose O'Neill Literary House, serving up stagings of original scripts by budding playwrights among WC's writing community. "The Writers' Theatre was founded because the kids wanted to stage their own works," Daigle says. "We have a lot of writers on campus, and of course some of them are playwrights."
Given the cultural appeal of a college town, the people who gravitate to Chestertown often want to get involved. The Riverside Players got its start that way. Then there's Fakespeare, whose parodies are popular beyond the campus borders.
It seems as if a show always goes on. "For a school of our size we do more productions than any other college in the country," says Daigle. "The reason we can do it is because we're a student-driven department."
It amounts to a lot of hard work for the students. "They do it because they have a passion for it," Daigle observes. And they are encouraged by steady audience support for the department's prodigious output. "I'm always amazed at the turnout."
Whether shows are staged in Norman James Theatre, the Casey Academic Center, or even in Toll Science Center, the actors and musicians are learning something—about life, about human resilience and yes, even patience.
Eric Mills, the Director of Media Relations at Washington College, is the author of two history books. He plays several instruments, including the banjo.
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