From early January to mid-February, EA was thrilled to have Sarah Bourne Rafferty, the owner of Atwater Designs, on campus as a visiting artist. As both the featured artist in the Crawford Campus Center Gallery and a week-long guest instructor in the classroom, Sarah not only displayed some of her beautiful pieces in the Learning to Listen: Original Cyanotypes exhibition for the EA community but also got to teach the blue-and-white cyanotype process to Upper School Photo III, IV, and V students.
"What sets our yearly Gallery calendar apart is our focus on inviting artists whose work aligns with our program’s disciplines and who are passionate about teaching and sharing their creative process with students," said Visual Arts Chair David Sigel, Hon. "Our incredible Gallery space allows us to provide students with unique and personal experiences, connecting them to materials and techniques they explore in the studio. When we bring in the artist behind the work, students gain a deeper understanding of the ideas and intentions driving the creative process, making for an even more dynamic and impactful educational experience."
Following Sarah's week-long workshops in the classroom, the students' completed cyanotype pieces were added to the exhibition just outside the Gallery, creating a '4th wall' of sorts. Shortly thereafter, Sarah and the photography students were celebrated at a Gallery closing celebration, complete with live jazz from the Upper School Jazz Ensemble and light refreshments.
"It was really awesome to see my students at the Gallery reception and for them to see their work in conversation with Sarah's work in a professional setting—to have their work celebrated alongside Sarah's," said Upper School Photographer Teacher Ellen Erikson. "All of my students are introduced to the cyanotype process in my Foundations of Art rotation, but for them to see a the process being used by a professional—to make a living—is a truly spectacular learning-made-real experience. It was also great because Sarah and my own way of working with the cyanotype process differs, so the students also got to see that there is more than one way to use the process."
For Sarah, who formerly taught darkroom and digital photography at The Agnes Irwin School, the experience back in the classroom was just as invigorating. "I loved my time at EA and wanted to stay for longer," she said. "David [Sigel] leads an incredible team of professional, inspiring, and dedicated teachers who really love and respect their students. I saw it with each interaction, and I was delighted that these students have the opportunity."
Throughout her interactions with students who are passionate about the arts, Sarah encouraged them to simply keep making work. "Make and look and see and make and then make more," she said. "Much like playing a sport or an instrument, you have to keep at it. It is the only thing that makes you better and helps you understand what is inside of yourself, especially in this time of online success. It's easy to seek the quick win but often the thing that is sacrificed is your own point of view. Give it time to form by making as much work as possible before you have to/try to make money at it."
Seeing the creative combination of professional artist and student pieces in the Gallery was "amazing," Mr. Sigel said. "Sarah took our gallery’s mission to a new level. Not only is she an incredibly talented artist, but she’s also a powerful and inspiring teacher. Watching her reconnect with her roots as a studio art teacher was to witness pure joy and a genuine love of exchanging ideas. Her time with us during her mini-residency was nothing short of extraordinary, and her visit has truly set the standard for future exhibitions and learning experiences."
Q&A with Sarah Bourne Rafferty
Q: What draws you to cyanotypes and botanical art?
A: Since I was young, I have always been a picture-maker, a photographer, and a seeker of composing images of the world around me within the rectangle. When I discovered photography (I often say that my 35mm camera taught me to see), I was all in. I always had my camera with me, and spent every possible moment in the darkroom. As my studies in photography matured, I discovered alternative processes—the earliest of the photographic processes, of which cyanotype is one. Upon this discovery, I felt that life fit together in ways that it hadn't before. The vision and the produced image aligned. The draw is that it makes me feel at home, it makes me feel like things make sense, and it makes me feel what I think life is all about.
Q: What do you love most about photography and art?
A: That's a pretty hard question that I've been grappling with for most of my life. There is the feeling of coming home to myself within this practice, which keeps me coming back. But there is something else about the act of making photographs, be it botanical cyanotypes or images made through the camera, and I think that very much has to do with feelings of empathy and being someone who sees and feels the world around them so fully. I want to make those feelings visible to others through my work, if even for a second.
Q: What is your favorite part of teaching photography and art?
A: I love the act of discovery—watching students' faces when images emerge from the developer or when what they want to happen happens, or when something unexpected happens and they embrace the mystery. The constant problem-solving that occurs within one photography class is empowering, inspiring, motivating, and so exciting! I also love students and building relationships. Throughout my teaching career, I was often told that I was a teacher of life (and I just happen to teach that through the lens of photography.) I think the core of teaching is the intersection between passion for a subject and the connection that it builds with students because when/if you have that relationship, anything is possible.
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of opening Atwater Designs?
A: I loved running Agnes Irwin's photo program and I love students and teaching, but I had a yearning to start my own thing for as long as I can remember. I think simply starting it (actually doing it—not just thinking about it) continues to be one of the best things in my life. Now, seven years in, I can say more specifically that I love the creative aspects of running a business beyond creating my work, such as my monthly newsletter, website, Instagram, lookbooks, catalogs, etc. Even the way I keep my financial books is a creative act. When I see it all through that lens, it's always a new and exciting opportunity for learning.