Editor's Note: As a way to acknowledge the legacy of arts at the School, we asked alumni to write in about their arts experiences and how those experiences have impacted their work and life. The following are two of the responses to this inquiry.
From Christopher Meeks '72
I'm writing this a few days from the publication of my produced play "Who Lives?" a drama that has to do with the first fully functioning kidney dialysis machine in Seattle in the early 1960s and the doctors wanting to test it on people. Of the hundreds of thousands of people dying of kidney disease then, 12 could be saved. Which twelve?
This play's genesis stretches all the way back to Blake and my eighth grade English class with John Hatch in 1968. One of the first books we read was a play, "Inherit the Wind" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Mr. Hatch loved every word, and it came across. The drama stunned me, even if it must have been written by old dead guys. Magically, years later in the 1980s, I interviewed Lawrence and Lee for Writers' Digest, and Bob Lee became one of my absolute best friends and a mentor. In fact, "Who Lives?" is dedicated to Bob Lee.
Another fabulous influence at Blake was Walt McCarthy for English. I loved his laugh and the sense that English was fun. I can't say my college English teachers brought about that sense of fun &151; in fact they killed the subject for me, so the fact I now teach college English is ironic. Mr. McCarthy oversaw my independent study of filmmaking my senior year, which led to filmmaking as my major in college. When I didn't have a stinking film permit in Los Angeles for shooting a short film and I was stopped, writing led to being a passion. You don't need a permit for that. Walt might get his hearty laugh cranked up with my book, "The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea."
Bill Fisher, without a doubt, had to be the weirdest and best teacher for showing how art can fit into one's daily life. He made speech class a place to be different and "perform." The best speeches are as affecting as any great actor, no? Mr. Fisher's speech class is surely embedded in my DNA, and my son Zack is probably reaping the benefit of Bill, too.
These fine men might not normally be associated with "art," but indeed they are artists of the best sort, leading me to see the art of language.
Kate Hersey Dickerson '74
Northrop (and to a small extent, Blake) really influenced my direction in the arts.
I practically lived in the art room from fifth through twelfth grades, where Fran McGoffin was truly my mentor. She was patient and excited about teaching me techniques of drawing and painting over the years. She even took it upon herself to teach me some art history as a special tutorial during study hall periods. This was her suggestion, though I didn't care for it, preferring studio hands-on art. However, when I got to Connecticut College and signed up for Art History 101, there was the same textbook Mrs. McGoffin had introduced me to! I regret that, being a self-focused teenager at the time, I probably did not adequately express my appreciation for all her help and enthusiasm.
When I was in seventh grade, Mrs. Bryan offered to buy one of my paintings, which she hung in her dining room. She had been my headmistress in Lower School — what a psychological boost for me!
Barbara Reynolds, through her French classes, also introduced us to so much art and the art of living through her French classes. I will never forget the shock of actually seeing THE Louvre Museum, with THE Mona Lisa, on our school trip to France with Mrs. Reynolds in the spring of 1973.
There was also an English assignment, probably with Mrs. Singer, in about eighth grade, which played a role in my future in the arts. We had to interview someone in a career that interested us and then write a paper about that career. I interviewed the late Bob Lenox, our neighbor and decorator, who told me things about the business of decorating that I still reference today as a decorator.
Finally, Bob Teslow was an influence beginning in my junior year, as Northrop and Blake were beginning coordinated classes between our two campuses. He opened up my world to modern art techniques with silkscreen and metal sculpture.
When I got to college, I ended up triple majoring in art, art history and French, all of which continued to mold my future passions. Today, besides being a painter/muralist, I am now an interior designer with a retail shop selling European influenced articles for the home. I truly mean it when I say I wouldn't be where I am without Fran McGoffin, Barbara Reynolds and Bob Teslow ... and I do think about their influences frequently!
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