Gray David '28
Brian Zalasky's piece in Polyphony: The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
On September 4th, the Barbara Crawford Gallery hosted the premiere of the faculty art show, Polyphony. An abundance of pieces were on display, from oil paintings to sculptures to a hand-built guitar, all carefully created by dedicated artists within SCH’s faculty and staff.
Polyphony, a term coined by exhibit curator and art teacher Paper Buck, is derived from the Greek word “polyphony,” meaning “many voices” or “many sounds.” It is intended to represent the disparate facets, or “many voices” as it were, of the people who work at SCH and their creative spirits. This show incorporates work from artists across various departments within the community, including teachers and support staff, as well as those in the Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School divisions. One such participant in the show is Stephanie Schade, the Upper School Administrative Assistant.
Schade has a total of three pieces in the show: “Nor’easter,” “Water’s Edge,” and “Fairy Forest,” each a small abstract painting with layered colors. She created the three compositions over the summer and was thrilled to share them at the exhibition. “It’s the first time I’ve ever done something like that,” Schade shared. “I had a lot of friends and family that came to the show and came to support me.”
Paper Buck appreciated the extent to which he was able to connect with unfamiliar faces and bring individuals together, family and friends being an exemplar of that. “For me, it was an exercise in building and fostering connections across the community,” Buck said. “In a very direct way, I interacted with many people that I hadn’t yet met or don’t overlap with in my day-to-day life here at SCH through the exhibition.”
He also recognized that it allowed faculty members, some of whom have known or been only vaguely aware of each other for years, to admire one another’s artistic talent and drive. “My hope was that people would get the opportunity to witness different dimensions of each other.” Within the broader idea of “people, this exhibition allows students to recognize the depth and extent of SCH faculty and staff as multi-faceted beings, not just fixtures in an intellectual environment. “I hope that students get to appreciate their teachers and the staff, people that they interact with, as individuals and as people with creative interests,” Paper further commented.
Not only is it beneficial for students to appreciate the creative minds of artists within the SCH community, but the sheer exposure to art in general is rewarding to the student body. “Whether it’s here or somewhere else, I think students should have some sort of art appreciation,” Schade remarked. Cultural enrichment in the form of artistic showcases additionally challenges narrow ideas about what art is supposed to look like. “You have to see that there are all different kinds of art,” said Schade. “Because I think people think painting, that’s it, right? And they don’t realize there are so many other things you can do.”
The diversity of pieces reflects this sentiment, such as Josh Mattingly’s guitar and Daria Maidenbaum’s drag portfolio, both of which are featured in the show.
This exhibition, spotlighting the artistic abilities within SCH’s personnel, will run until December 5th, 2025. Make a trip down to the Barbara Crawford Gallery and witness the creative forces hidden within your respected faculty and staff!
