By Margaret Hodson ’16, News Editor
Art shows at Country Day have always followed a predictable pattern—until now. Anyone that attended Thursday’s fabulous art show noted that the theme, “Off the Walls”, was definitely a departure from the norm. Instead of work being displayed on art panels, slideshows containing digital images of artwork were projected onto screens. Although this year’s art show was definitely a success, it is just a precursor to the next big step in art exhibition at Country Day.
Upper School Art Department Chair Carole Lichty-Smith has been working with sponsors for over a year to plan the installation of a new, permanent Upper School art gallery. According to Ms. Lichty-Smith, “We’ve been kind of boring, actually, with how we’ve done art shows. A lot of it is because of the location.” The fact that previous art shows occurred in and around the Upper School and Dining Terrace limited how long the art could be on display. With the installation of a permanent gallery, there would be a place
for students to display their work year round. The new location would be the unnamed entrance to the Upper School next to Pattison Courtyard. The entrance faces the Lower School and currently houses the trophy cases. The abundant wall space in this area would feature cinder-block panels to display work. The most difficult and costly aspect of the installation will be setting up additional lighting, as there are two different kinds of space, high and vaulted ceilings and drop ceilings, which will require different types of lighting. The main sponsor for the
gallery is Mr. William Messer, although there has been support from many other donors. The gallery will hopefully be installed in the near future, although as of now there is not a set date. According to Ms. Lichty-Smith, “I am fingers crossed, holding my breath that it
will be ready for the spring show.”
The gallery would not only provide a fabulous location for the year-round display of art, but would add valuable new aspects to the photography and art curriculums. Regarding her hopes for the gallery, Ms. Lichty-Smith said, “The gallery would grow over time…What I had eventually hoped was to adopt a curatorial piece to the photo curriculum.” For Ms. Lighty-Smith’s photo students, this means they would have a chance to set up an art show featuring their original work; students would decide how to hang the pieces, set up the lighting, and hold an opening—everything that a professional photographer would do to display a collection in their own gallery.
