THE THIRTIETH CLASS

OS30 has landed! With 46 bright and eager students, we have one of the biggest and strongest classes in recent Oxbow history. And we are thrilled to have them here. Despite the terrifying implications of the California drought, the weather has been a dream, welcoming this new class with clear skies and wide-open studio doors. We're off to a great start with OS30--this weekend, on an afternoon walk down the pad, the sound of the Walden audio book wafted out from behind easels in the Painting Studio while students vigorously multi-tasked, grappling with atmospheric perspective and Transcendentalism in the same stroke. Yesterday students finished their first Oxbow project, the culmination of the inter-disciplinary Observation unit, and the work looks great--vibrant, lively, and passionate. If you're new to this blog, welcome! And stay tuned for weekly updates as OS30 navigates their Oxbow journey. 

Holidaze

The Ox-Blog is on vacation! We'll see you back here in January to welcome OS30.

OS29 /// OUT

BON VOYAGE

we'll miss you

you'll always be part of the Oxbow family

FINAL SHOW

...thanks you for your support throughout the semester. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all at the 

Final Show and Open House:

Saturday December 14 and Sunday December 15, 1-3pm at The Oxbow School, 530 Third Street

People Who Change the World

Yesterday marked the passing of Nelson Mandela, one of the great leaders of our time. When the world loses such a leader, the effect is palpable. While the sixteen year-olds of OS29 may not fully understand the context and impact of this loss, they intuit that someone important is gone. I find that when I reflect on the passing of a person I admire, someone who has inspired me to be a better, kinder, and more compassionate person, I start to look to the people around me to fill the void. Fortunately, I am surrounded by inspiration. 

One of the reasons I choose to work with teenagers is that they are unabashed in expressing their passions, desires, and fears. There is a raw honesty to the way teens tackle the obstacles in their lives. The population we work with at Oxbow is particularly inspiring, given that these teens have made the deliberate choice to express their ideas and experiences through art. OS29 has a lot of spirit, and many of our students are budding activists. Recall one of our first blog posts this semester--in the first week, a student said, "I make art because I have things to say." I was struck by the simultaneous simplicity and profundity of this statement.

When I walk around the studios and look at OS29's Final Projects in progress, I am hit with intense awe and gratitude--awe at the unbridled potential these teenagers are learning to harness, and gratitude for the positive work I know they will do throughout their lives. Mr. Mandela's death reminds me that I am surrounded by activists here at Oxbow; these students give me the assurance that we're headed in the right direction. On behalf of the whole Oxbow community, I am thrilled to invite you to share in a celebration of the accomplishments of this class--looking forward to seeing you at the Final Show next weekend! (Check out the Oxbow website for info on the Final Show Open House.)                                                                                     
- Lenora

BODIES

There's something about being a teenager that makes body casting especially appealing. If you've ever been to a Final Show here you know how amazing it can be -- we've seen students use the medium to turn themselves into mermaids, skeletons, glowing ghostly shells, multi-armed mythical creatures, and so much more. Once, a student made a zip-up latex replica of herself, and called it her "Impostor Suit." This semester there are several Final Projects that involve elements of body casting.

Dani's artwork is about the feeling of being trapped. She cast a full-body plaster mold of her peer Katie as a way to explore the feeling of confinement. For Dani, the artwork is as much about the process of making the cast as it is about the final sculpture. Dani hopes that using a literal human form will better portray the human emotions she wants to evoke in her viewers. Part of her art-making process was to interview Katie about the experience of having her body cast. 

Katie described the casting process as enjoyable but also quite strange. While at first it felt a bit suffocating, Katie eventually found herself entering a tranquil and meditative state where she pictured herself as a beetle, the plaster her exoskeleton. The sensation of having the cast removed was particularly interesting, not unlike what she imagines a crustacean might feel like as it molts, shedding an outgrown shell. 

For both Katie and Dani, body casting is a new and exciting medium full of possibility, providing an opportunity to manipulate the human form in any way imaginable while also maintaining relatable realism. 

Controlled Chaos

Slade's workspace

We're back from Thanksgiving break rested and ready for the final push. Final Projects are due in 6 days, and the studios have reached an expected state of disarray. One of the most exciting aspects of Final Projects is watching each student create a workspace for themselves; some are intentional about it, and for others it happens in a haphazard way. Each workspace is a microcosm, offering a sneak peek into the artist's mind and providing hints at what the final artwork will look like. There is an ebb and flow of chaos and organization. Some people need a spotless workspace, each brush and pen arranged in an exact order. Others get lost in what looks to an outsider like a pile of junk, and somehow, art is born out of the chaos. For others, the chaos is the artwork. Stay tuned for more posts this week as we continue to document the mess artwork in progress. 

Justin's dungeon

Final Project Family Portrait

This week has been dedicated to getting the Final Project ball rolling. One half of this endeavor involved conducting A LOT OF RESEARCH and then thinking and mind-mapping and MORE RESEARCH and more thinking, and then writing. The other half involved sketching and consulting and testing materials, and more sketching and more consulting, and maybe stretching a canvas or building a room or ordering paper or strapping on a camera. At the heart of it all is a topic, a question, or a theme that drives the critical inquiry and creative practice. Each student's Final Project is born from and revolves around this...well, let's call it a nugget. So this week's blog post is extra special: we asked each member of OS29 to describe their Final Project "nugget" in one word, and then every advisory group took a family portrait. What you see here is a combo word/photo portrait of the entire class. Special, right?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

WEST A: PSYCHOLOGY / DESIRE / PROCESS / HUMANITY / PERCEPTION / RITUAL

Amanda, Tumani, Valerie, Willa, Slade, Karen

WEST B: SACRIFICE / ALIENATE / PERCEPTION / EMOTION

Zeke, Justin, Ser, Izaiah

WEST C: SPACES / LIFE / LUMINOUS / ELEPHANTS / CONSCIOUSNESS / IDENTITY

Isabel G., Isabel A., McKenzie, Lucie, Katie, Margeaux

WEST D: COLOR / DARK / STORIES / CONFORMITY / HAPPINESS / SUPPRESSION

Maya, Piper, Maddy B., Jennifer, Tara, Dani

EAST A: IDEAVIRUS / CONNECTION / INITIATION / MEMORY / SUPERPOSITION

Alex, JJ, Nigel, Emmett, Sam

EAST C: CONTROL / EQUALITY / BIRTH / MEMORY / INSOMNIA / INTERNET

Annalise, Annie, Veronica, Akea, Courtney, Grace

EAST D: WONDERLAND / AMERICANDREAM / PERCEPTION / BIPOLAR / REALITY / INDIVIDUALISM

Darien, Maddie G., Taylor, Elsa, Jessica, Shannon

Head in the Trees, Toes in the Ocean

Oops! We forgot to post last week. So sorry. But we have a pretty good excuse...we were here:

Final Project officially began on November 1st, and then after a week of intense brainstorming and proposal writing, the whole school went for a day-long hike in Pt. Reyes. It was crisp and clear on the coast, a perfect day for a walk in the woods. We navigated the Arched Rock trail to the beach, and ate lunch in the sand. For some, it was a first meeting with the Pacific Ocean. What a treat! Photos courtesy of Isabel A. (above) and Nigel (below).