On Wednesday afternoon, the Proctor community celebrated Senior Projects and senior art awards with our first annual Express Fest! For decades, the final Wednesday afternoon of the academic year has been dedicated to showcasing Senior Project exhibits, but as we looked to provide balance to awards given at Senior Dinner, Arts Department Chair Bill Wightman brainstormed a collaboration of art awards, Senior Project exhibits, and an all-school barbeque outside the Meeting House. It was a fantastic way to gather as a community one last time and to celebrate the contributions of our seniors over the course of their Proctor careers.
More than 70 seniors took part in Proctor's three-week Senior Project, providing more than 50 exhibits around the Wilkins Meeting House for the community to tour. Projects ranged from designing surf board fins out of recycled plastic bottles as Andrew '16 (above) did as a continuation of his Social Entrepreneurship project, to veterinary internships (like Maddie '16 below), to the making of documentary films (like Sam '16 did in San Francisco on the punk rock music industry).
Other projects involved fitness training, applied carpentry skills (Myles '16, below, is a veteran of Proctor's woodshop and built a chicken coup for his Rhode Island farm), and a self-guided marketing analysis of boarding schools (Max '16 and Wari '16 gathered some great research which will be beneficial to our own marketing efforts!).
The energy surrounding Senior Project exhibits spilled over into the Norris Family Theater as three musical performances related to music recording Senior Projects sandwiched senior art awards. Max '16, Zack '16, James '16, and Scott '17 (below) performed an original piece written and recorded in Proctor's music studio during Senior Project.
We feel like we say this every year, but the Class of 2016 possesses incredible talent. What is most remarkable about their gifts, however, is the variety of ways these talents positively impact our community. The performances by Will '16, Paris '16, Izzy '16 and the above group were overt expressions of talent, however, as art awards were given for each arts discipline, the depth and diversity of creativity within the Class of 2016 became apparent.
Congratulations to the following Senior Art Award winners recognized during Wednesday evening's assembly:
Industrial Arts Award
Stuart Hull
Studio Arts Award
Erin Meegan
Ceramics Award
Maggie Royal
Photography Award
Pudu Blamoh
Vocal Music Award: Contribution to Ensemble
Pudu Blamoh
Vocal Music Award: Applied Study
Haley Schorer
Grace Migliozzi
Instrumental Music Award: Ensemble
Zack Doyle
Max Kaesshaefer
Music Award: Vocal Contribution to Ensemble
Paris Healey
Music Award: Outstanding Achievement in Applied Music
Miles Kittell
John and Grace Simmons Prize: Percussion Involvement in Ensembles
Max Barrett
Music Technology Award
James Roan IV
Theater Arts Award: Excellence in Drama Performance
Grace Migliozzi
Haley Schorer
Theater Arts Award: Excellent Technical Dramatics
Ceilidh Kehoe
Theater Arts Award: Excellence in Costuming
Sophie King
National Art Honor Society Class of 2016
Grace Hovem
Ceilidh Kehoe
Erin Meegan
Aaron Rosenblum
Maggie Royal
Thank you to Bill Wightman, the arts department, the Class of 2016, and Proctor's amazing Dining Services team for making Wednesday evening a perfect way to gather as a community one last time before underclassmen depart Thursday morning!
