On Thursday, September 22, our school’s arts gallery welcomed its first guest artist of the school year.

Katy Schneider, a teacher at Smith College and a dedicated painter, exhibited some of her recent pieces, including a series of peony paintings and a collection of drawings of her family members.

Schneider also talked to the arts intensive students about her work, techniques, and art itself.

The arts gallery is located on the first floor the Reed Campus center. With sunlight shining through the giant glass windows, the room now accommodates more than twenty paintings and drawings.

Big pencil drawings hang up on the left wall, featuring people with distinct poses and facial expressions. According to Schneider, she mainly focused on keeping the balance between the subjects and the background. The heaviness of the characters’ heads is also what she wanted to emphasize.

Williston student Kiran Marwaha ’17, said, “I loved the charcoal sketches she’d done of family and friends. There was so much detail in the faces, I felt like I would immediately recognize who the sketches were of if they were to suddenly walk into the room.”

On the right, relatively small flower paintings are on display depicting peonies with variable backgrounds and light effects. The artist has been painting related subjects for over twenty years, always experimenting with different settings and techniques.

“They are really interesting flowers,” Schneider said. “It’s not like I am painting all the flowers. It’s this flower that I am particularly drawn to.  There is something about their gestures, the weight. They are really present, like people. They speak to me.”

Emily LeRolland ’17, an arts intensive student, commented, “I thought it was really interesting how she only had a couple of hours to paint the flowers, and liked that pressure of a time constraint.”

“I also liked when she said that she never threw a piece out right away if she wasn’t happy with it,” Emily added. “She takes time to rethink it but doesn’t give up. Overall it was really inspiring.”

Williston students also engaged in a heated discussion with Schneider. It was not only the artist’s elaborate techniques, but also her genuine passion about arts that left a deep impression.

Referring arts to a form of “mental illness,” Schneider emphasized the depth of the pleasures she gained from creating paintings and drawings.

“I can experience a happiness from it that not any other kind of happiness can compare to. It is very deep, and long-lasting,” she said.

Schneider also encouraged Williston students to pursue their interests. “If you are into something now,” she said. “then do it.”

After the arts opening, Minh Nguyen ’18 described the experience as “thought-provoking,” and said, “I hope to meet more amazing artists.”