Lower Mid students had the unique opportunity to bring their artworks out of the studios and into the limelight from March 27 to April 9.

Mr. Greg Lock, director of photography, film, and related media, curated the exhibit to connect to the Lower Mid art curriculum.

On March 27, the Tremaine Gallery added pieces by studio art, ceramic, and photography students to “SHIFT,” an exploration of global migration by professional artists. Photography and studio art instructors encouraged students to consider the featured works about migration and displacement to create work inspired by their own families’ migration stories.

The 250 photography students first engaged with the gallery exhibit in a Zoom class with featured artists Ms. Carolyn Defrin and Dr. Elena Marchevska.

With direction from the artists, the students created one-minute videos capturing their connection to home through a treasured object, place, or emotion. Several of the videos were selected by the artists to be included in the video series in the exhibit, “Finding Home.”

Photo students then used those videos to expand their concepts into a larger assignment, an interpretation of their own family migration stories expressed in surreal animation sequences. The students did research, collected archival material, and manipulated images in Adobe After Effects to achieve different looks.

Mr. Lock chose a select few to be included in the massive projections on the gallery wall. He said, “We selected the animations which surprised us the most. Some tell a literal tale in the form of a linear narrative and some are more of a thematic visual landscape that relates to their family story.”

In her animation project, Vanessa Guerra ’25 focused on her French, Mexican, and American background to create portraits of herself as a young girl.

Guerra said, “I created collages using fruits and added music from the cultures I belong to. I wanted the viewer to be able to experience the kind of energy I feel when I go back to [France and Mexico].”

Each featured animation told the unique and personal stories of the Lower Mid artists.

Henry Shattuck ’25 created an animation illustrating his ancestors’ paths across the United States over 400 years.

Jami Huang ’25 depicted her ancestors’ migration during the cultural revolution in China.

Eleni Kontokosta ’25’s piece reflected her Great Aunt’s story of losing her husband during the Holocst by featuring chilling imagery of hands separating over a war-torn landscape.

Dhruv Kothari ’25 took a more abstract approach. Working with blender software to create movement over a surreal landscape with the iconic Big Ben and Taj Mahal, he shows his family’s connection to both England and India.

Instructors in studio art, Ms. Colleen McGuire and Ms. Terri Moore, directed their students to create single-page graphic narratives based on resources from their Humanities coursework or their own family history.

In her graphic narrative, Tessie Connell ’25 created a fictional Cherokee girl named Kamama (“butterfly” in Cherokee), depicting her forced displacement from her land and journey on The Trail of Tears

Connell said, “I wanted to show this young girl’s naivety and innocence through the symbol of a butterfly. In history we often look at the political and economic effects caused by immigration, but I think what is so unique about studio art is that you can explore the emotional effects [immigration has on] a person.”

Marisin McLain ’25 also found inspiration in the history of the Trail of Tears. McLain said, “I wanted to represent that not only the Cherokee were taken away from their land, but they were taken away from a vitality because so much of their culture was built upon [their natural land].”

Reflecting on his hopes for this exhibition, Mr. Lock said, “Getting work selected for an exhibition is a step up from a critique. It involves other people and serves a greater good. In this show, I hope students felt a sense of accomplishment by having their work selected.”

The students celebrated their work at a closing pizza party on Friday, April 7.

“The Language of Looms” will be the next Tremaine Gallery exhibit, featuring the work of Cynthia Alberto, an artist, designer, and founder of the Brooklyn-based weaving and healing arts studio, Weaving Hand, from April 19 to June 7.