'Building Together' Showcases Community-Wide Creativity
This winter, piece by piece, the EA community built something meaningful together.
The result was Building Together, a community-wide installation in the Crawford Campus Center Gallery inspired by the work of American sculptor Louise Nevelson.
On display from Feb. 27 through April 8, the exhibition brings together individual assemblages—each created in a small shadow box—into a larger, unified work that reflects the creativity and collaboration of students, faculty, staff, families, and friends.
Over several weeks, participants visited the Gallery-turned-studio to build their own pieces using cardboard, wooden elements, and found materials. "As members of our community created these pieces, we asked them to consider the space within their box, how shapes interact, and how shadows help unify the composition," said Lower School Art Teacher and Gallery Coordinator Meghan Cangi.
Inspired by Nevelson's iconic monochromatic sculptures, the exhibition highlights the power of repetition, texture, and a limited palette. Individually, each piece offers a unique perspective; together, they form a cohesive and immersive installation.
Through this process, Building Together encouraged participants to experiment, collaborate, and contribute to something larger than themselves—bringing the Gallery’s mission of shared creative experience to life, Mrs. Cangi explained.
A community reception on March 12 celebrated the exhibition with live jazz music from Upper School student musicians, along with food and conversation, bringing contributors and visitors together inside the space they helped create.
"Our Gallery is designed as an open invitation," said Visual Arts Department Chair David Sigel, Hon. "It asks people to step in, take a small risk, and reconnect with the act of making. What has been most meaningful is not just the work on display, but watching students and community members choose to enter the space on their own, sit down, and begin. That quiet decision to engage is where the real power of this experience lives."