Seasons of Art

This summer, creative Deer­field students nurtured their ar­tistic talents in a variety of ways, painting all night in art studios, assisting a professional photog­rapher, and dancing in the halls of Lincoln Center.

Lizzy Gregory ’11 attended Pratt Institute’s summer college-level program in New York City where she majored in painting and drawing, studied art history, and visited the city’s most wide­ly-acclaimed museums. She also took a class dedicated to develop­ing a college art portfolio.

The program involved eight-to-ten hours a day in the stu­dio and about four hours of art homework. “I’ve gotten used to the feeling of a five-hour figure class by now,” Gregory said, and later expressed her desire to at­tend an art school in the future.

Similarly, Sonja Holmberg ’11 received a full scholarship to attend Rhode Island School of Design’s summer precollege program. For six weeks, Holm­berg majored in drawing and also studied design and art history.

Akshaya Avril-Tucker ’11 and Emlyn Van Eps ’12 attended Ap­ple Hill Summer Chamber Music Workshop for ten days in Keene, NH. Musicians were responsible for playing in several ensembles and practicing individually.

With Apple Hill’s unique branch organization, “Playing for Peace,” Avril-Tucker and Van Eps met musicians from all over the world, especially from areas beleaguered by conflict, such as Palestine and Israel. “I learned a lot about modern music, and world music in general,” com­mented Van Eps.

Curtis Oh ’11, a saxophon­ist, and Katie Yoon ’11, a violist, both compiled CDs for colleges this summer. “My obvious reason was to send a sample of my work as part of my arts supplement,” explained Oh. “But it’s nice to keep a record of my music ex­periences so I can look back and reflect on how I used to play.”

Nina Shevzov-Zebrun ’12 danced at Juilliard’s Summer Dance Intensive program for three weeks in New York City, where she took classes in ballet and modern dance. Shevzov-Zebrun danced nine hours daily and had the opportunity to be accompanied by current Juilliard dancers.

To hone their skills with the camera, Hannah Dancer ’11 in­terned for a photographer in New York City for two weeks, while Thomas Earle ’12 attended a young digital photographers’ class in the Maine Multi-Media Workshop Program.

Actor Jem Wilner ’11 attended Northwestern University’s five-week intensive theater program. “It was almost like a conserva­tory for drama,” he declared. He acted from 8:00 a.m. to 10 p.m., with lunch and dinner breaks in between, and his core classes in­cluded acting, voice, movement, and, surprisingly, many hours of yoga by the lake. In his afternoon classes, Wilner practiced dialects, accents, comedy, improvisa­tion, choreography, and dance. Groups of sixteen engaged in four hours of rehearsal each day, and Wilner performed Big Love.