Journalism student Sophie Lyras '21 published the following interviews with graduating seniors pursuing the arts in college in the final edition of The Hornet's Nest, Proctor's student newspaper, at the end of May. Each graduating class from Proctor possesses a unique personality, fueled by their diverse passions and talents. For the six graduates interviewed below, their experiences with the arts at Proctor laid a foundation for future studies and a lifetime of enjoyment through the arts. Thank you, Sophie, for sharing these interviews with us! 

The end of each trimester at Proctor celebrates the collective work of students enrolled in art classes. Usually, we gather in the Wilkins Meeting House before the spring musical to peruse the art, gently run our hands over the sculptures, woodworking pieces, and marvel at the creativity of our students across disciplines. But like everything else this spring, our celebration of student artwork must take a slightly different form.

Proctor’s hands-on, face-to-face centric educational model has created unique challenges for teachers as they shift their programs to an online format. How, for example, do you turn a metal engineering class into a distance learning program? Studio art? Woodworking? Ceramics? Theater? Proctor’s Arts Department has stepped up to the challenge of transforming their typically hands-on, in-person focused courses into powerful remote learning experiences. Enjoy the following windows into our arts classes, featured student work, and reflections from our art faculty on how they are thinking outside the box this spring! 

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” -Gail Sheehy

This is our last week at home before heading to Florence for the final trip. It’s a week of wrapping up personal works, finishing our term long book project, and enjoying the last cups of Chocolat Viennois from Le Festival, the café where we have Literature class.

Most afternoon activities at Proctor afford regular opportunities for public performances; athletic teams showcase their progress every Wednesday and Saturday. For Proctor’s drama department, the countless hours of memorizing lines, rehearsing, building and rebuilding an intricate set, the beautiful mess of group dynamics and stress of pre-show nerves culminate in two performances at the end of the Winter Term. 

Our Admissions Team often hears the question: What’s a typical day like for a Proctor student? Oh, where do we start. How do adequately explain no two days are the same. How do we succinctly articulate the breadth of experiences that could enter a “typical” day for our students? 

To be blunt…This week was kinda crazy. There we were, at home in Aix, giggling over our German lessons and researching cool things to do during our free time in Munich with little success to find anything better than an apparently sub-par aquarium when right under our nose, Storm Ciara was raging her way across northern Europe.