Although we are not on the cobbled streets of Europe, we find immense beauty in the natural world of central Arizona.

Over the last decade, Proctor Academy's European Art Classroom program has provided hundreds of students the opportunity to immerse themselves in an art colony in the south of France. With COVID-19 shutting down international travel, program directors Dave and Jen Fleming reinvented the art immersion program stateside. Retaining the essence of the European Art Classroom experience (shared meals, plein air painting, art history and culture classes, art journals, sketchbooks, and living in community), the Southwest Art Classroom experience is underway in Arizona. Enjoy this brief update from Pheobe '21! 

Never has the creation of art been more important in our students’ lives. When our students stepped into the studio, the wood shop, the forge, or on the stage, they shed the invisible weight of a global pandemic and simply immersed themselves in the healing process of creating art. Today, we share student work in a Virtual End of Term Art Show at the link below. 

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.