Flour Power

Enjoy some words and photos from OS33's rendition of our pizza party tradition:

Grace S:
With Project X starting up and stress levels running high, Saturday gave us some relief in the form of gooey delicious handmade pizza. At 5, we all ventured into the beauty that is Stephen's backyard to get a lesson by Mo and Alex on the fine skill of pizza making. The families of the Oxbow staff came and as Mo's adorable little girls ran around it felt like we were home. Being around families, even if they are not your own tend to have that effect. As flour dust was flung in the air like confetti and toppings were carefully placed, we laughed and chatted. The pizza, though unevenly shaped and sometimes too gooey or stringy, was a perfect way to end another wonderful day at The Oxbow School.

Lila S:
A lot of fun and engaging activities are happening in the community this weekend, including a pizza party and artist lecture at The Hess Collection! The students all went over to Stephen's house on Saturday to learn how to make a personal-sized pizza and watch it be baked in the clay outdoor oven. Everyone shared laughs and smiles over the delicious and cheesy pizzas made from materials prepared by the wonderful chefs at our very own Dining Hall. There's nothing like making your own beautiful meal and watching it cook, then getting to enjoy it! Oxbow students continue to experience hands on art in the studios and in pizza workshops - we are all pizza artisans now in addition to being sculptors, painters, printmakers, photographers, filmmakers, and more. It's wonderful to watch each artist show their unique style and voice in the way they craft their pizza!

On Sunday, we will all journey to the Hess Collection and experience more real life successful art in the world at Alison Wright's Artist Lecture.

all photos and text by Grace S and Lila S

Lucy Puls in Residence

Oxbohemians are incredibly fortunate to work with two visiting artists per semester on exploratory 10 day long workshops. OS33's first VA is Berkeley-based Lucy Puls, who is also an art professor at the University of California, Davis. Lucy crafted a prompt that will aid OS33 in ways they probably don't know yet in the remainder of their semester, which they've been using along with some new material on campus: Solarfast inks! Read on for a summary of the prompt and some images of works in progress:

GO TO SEED/GONE TO SEED/SEEDgo (or run) to seed (of a plant) cease flowering as the seeds develop: deteriorate in condition, strength, or efficiency 

Usually one thinks of the phrase "go to seed" as referring to something abandoned or deteriorated. A garden gone to seed would be one that hasn't been tended for some time. The below text however is quite relevant to how to think about the project prompt:

"It seems "go to seed" has contradictory meaning. Final stage of plant life seemingly expiring, on the one hand, and a stage of coming rebirth, which is fecund, on the other hand." 

Locate and consider places or spaces in the immediate environment that have "gone to seed" Photograph the place from a number of different vantage points.  

Using Solarfast light sensitive inks on fabric, paper, or experimental materials, create as many iterations as time allows. You can continue with photographic images (via negatives), create photograms by placing objects or handmade stencils onto the Solarfast, or three-dimensional forms by sewing, gluing, stapling, or nailing the fabric image to a support or armature. Think about other media and techniques such as watercolor, collage, paper mache, or found materials. Additionally, you, your person, can be a material. You could do a short performance with the finished piece or you could be the armature for a built, sewn, or constructed object. This way you'd work in tandem with the built element, completing the "sculpture" with your presence. 

photos: Eulala S and Megan 

Connections: Set Loose

The Connections class continued to move out of the classroom and into the world with a whirlwind week of fieldtrips to local farms and conscientious companies. Each section had a uniquely crafted experience, coming back together to share out about their diverse visits. While a few locations from previous semesters were revisited (ever beautiful farms Green String and Open Field, both of Petaluma), OS33 had the pleasure of seeing many new sites including the Petaluma Seed Bank, Thistle Meats in Petaluma, and exploring the vendors and panels at the National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa. Continue reading for a reflection on some of these experiences from Graham G:

This week, we explored the work we've been doing in Connections class around regenerative agriculture and its impact on the world by visiting various farms and markets that practice healthy, regenerative farming. Each section visited a different farm and/or market, where we heard firsthand from those involved in food growth how important it is for us to consider not only the quality of the food we eat, but also the health of the land it comes from. Regenerative agriculture is a concept that challenges farmers to grow food in a way that reinvigorates the soil with nutrients for a better, healthier farm, and drastically increases the soil's ability to soak up excess carbon. We connected the concepts we've been learning about farming to our reading of Thoreau's Walden and our own personal lives by writing essays about food-related memories. This gave many students the opportunity to share experiences from home and with family that reminded us all how much the food we eat brings us together as a community. 

above: at Open Field Farm. photos: Jessica K || below: shots from Mo Elgazzar of Green String Farm, Thistle Meats, and the Santa Rosa National Heirloom Exposition.

Honing in on Solitude

photo: Ezri H

OS33 has already been here for two weeks, and time is speeding along. the Observation Project is completed, the Place project has begun, and our Humanities Team has rolled out their team-taught Connections course with a close reading of Henry David Thoreau's acclaimed Walden. See below for a joint reflection from Ellery T. and Jaden R. on the new Connections unit:

This week, we wrote short papers centered on the idea "What I Live For," which correlated with readings we've been discussing from Thoreau's Walden. We all hiked to a secluded area in Westwood Hills to read our papers for each other, share our lives, and what's important to us. Continuing with reading Walden, we were then assigned to spend three to four hours outside in solitude to reflect and draw about how we feel connected - or disconnected - to nature. The assignment is designed for us to question what makes us happy, as we spend time alone in nature free of other distractions. Lila S, from Vermont, says, "I loved it so much, it was inspiring. I'm going back to the place we hiked to." about her section's Humanities classes and "What I Live For" hike. It has allowed many of us to question ourselves, the outside influences affecting us, and what is really important to us.

photos: Mo Elgazzar

OS33's Turn for Observation

Every Oxbow semester begins with the weeklong Observation project, meant as a starting point for cultivating deliberate - Walden ref for those in the know - artistic practices, keen eyes, and patience as well (as I'm sure some students may argue). In Painting, New Media, and Sculpture, the subject of each piece is considered in multiple media and techniques to foster a full understanding of that which is being observed. Drawing with pencil, pastel, and tape, swapping drawings, recording audio, shooting footage, different approaches to painting, bending wire - it's all happening. See below for a write-up from Bailey T about her time in Chris Thorson's painting class:

In Section 2, Painting, we started observational drawings of natural objects Chris collected around campus. From there, the traditional painting of still lives began. Some students took a very realistic approach, while others adopted a looser style. Now, we are creating new paintings with a modernist outlook. To aid in this, we're looking at contemporary artists such as Mark Rothko and Amy Sillman to create a piece based off the still life, but interpreting it in a more conceptual way.  

OS33's Observation pieces will be on view at Oxbow starting next week - stop by if you're local!

OS33 Lands in Napa

OS33 has arrived in Napa! With 43 students, this class is on the larger side and we look forward to the diverse talent and vitality that will bring. The start of the semester has so far been slow as we take the time to get to know one another and determine the social, academic, and artistic culture of OS33 and establish healthy lines of communication and trust. See the photo below for a humorous example of our ice breaker games. Class will begin on Monday, so be sure to check back weekly for updates on their work in and out of the studios as the semester unfolds. As with previous semesters, the blog will feature student contributors for a unique and fresh look at the oxperience. I'm not apologizing for the pun.

From Napa With Love

That's a wrap!

OS32 departed yesterday and the Oxbow campus is once again blissfully...er...I mean..."eerily" silent as we power up for the summer camp. After a characteristically exhausting week of deinstallation, cleaning, packing, shipping, and (most of all) tearful celebrations of each other, these 38 best buds are once again scattered across the country. Though physically distant, these new alumni are connected for life and always welcome on our little bend of the river. A special thank you goes out to them for being arguably the sweetest semester on record - forever supportive, kind, exciting and excitable. We wish the very best of luck to these artists and scholars!

To all the parents in blog-land: thank you for sharing your children with us these four short months. What goofballs they are! We'll miss them. 

*TEDxNAPA VALLEY* Stephen Thomas: Redefining Success in Education

Will ya look at this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pgoEK-9UgU&feature=em-share_video_user

OS32 OPEN HOUSE

*** FINAL SHOW THIS WEEKEND! ***

details below: