2026 Cushing Visual Arts Magazine

Visual Arts

Visual Arts Magazine

PHOTOGRAPHY

Rebecca Cinclair, Jeanine Eschenbach,

VISUAL ARTS FACULTY

SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS

Cushing visual artists received 3 Gold Keys, 8 Silver Keys, and 7 Honorable Mentions in the 2025-26 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program. Winning pieces are indicated throughout the magazine with the Scholastic Awards icon.

ADVANCED ART PORTFOLIO

Advanced art students who are in the process of preparing a body of work towards a portfolio have the opportunity to participate in our Advanced Art Portfolio course. This rigorous year-long experience is for passionate and serious artists who have had success in one or more mediums and courses and allows them to develop a cohesive body of work that represents their overall achievement in art.

Jimmy Monahan ‘26

Catherine Li ’27

This year in Art Portfolio, I’ve been exploring my thoughts — the way I think, and how I’m different from other people. I think that’s a very important part of growing up: understanding yourself before you can truly accept yourself. My self-portraits are part of this process for me.

When I do a self portrait, sometimes it feels off when just the slightest thing doesn’t look exactly the same as me. And I will get frustrated — like, I feel like my art skills aren’t getting better or I feel like I don’t like my appearance. Doing self portraits has helped me deal with that… to accept who I am, to accept how I look, to accept where my art skills are.

Hands have been very important in my self portraits, because during my daily life it’s a habit for me to cover some part of my face with my hands. The gesture could be me thinking, it could be when I’m not happy or when I’m embarrassed — or even when I am happy, like when I’m laughing. There is an ancient sculpture of three monkeys covering their mouth, their ears, and their eyes. See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil. I think I am interpreting this in some ways for how I think about myself.

I really enjoy the overall environment in our art department. Ms. Esch is so supportive. Everyone is working on their own stuff. Everyone is creative. Because it’s Art Portfolio, we’re not limited to a single medium. We can do sculpture, 3D mixed media, or, like, my oil paintings. And it’s just very exciting, because every time I walk into the studio, there’s some progress in everyone’s work, and that gives me so much inspiration.

MISSION STATEMENT

Aeroptera is a student-led non-profit that strives to redefine drones for research through accessibility and research-capable design. We are determined to bring the full-scale application of 3D printing technology to drone robotics.

After lengthy discussions in our outline meetings, we settled on the name Aeroptera. The name is inspired by the insect family Neuroptera, a group of large-winged insects that we believe symbolize our vision of flight and dreams of bringing unique and accessible drone platforms into reality.

Our first drone prototype is named Lace, which is derived from the insect Lacewing, an iconic member of the Neuroptera family.

The logo for Lace, Aeroptera, and our motto, “Motion Inspires Design” were simultaneously established.

MEMBERS

Sicheng Danny Cao ’26

Jinhao Han ’26

Jianjing Hou ’26

Runyang Ryan Liu ’26

Jimmy Monahan ’26

William Wong ’26

Yuetong Tom Yan ’27

Jeanine Eschenbach (Advisor)

ARCHITECTURE

Grounded in a design-thinking approach, students experience problem-solving methods in preparation for tackling complex structure challenges, sculptural construction, and product design fabrication. Creative and imaginative three-dimensional form and space-making foster an understanding of global historical context and design vocabulary and technique. Students also use strategies to conceptualize sustainable environments that reduce negative environmental impacts holistically.

Henry Keumpers ‘27

Brian Yandle ‘26

Christian Esser ’27

John Kelly ’27

Aidan Ozgener ’27

Christian Esser ’27

John Kelly ’27

Aidan Ozgener ’27

Yuetong Tom Yan ’27

My mom is an interior designer back in China, and she influenced me a lot. From when I was four or five, I used to go to her workspace — and she would also take me on her travels, where we would see famous architecture, like buildings by [Antoni] Gaudi, [the leading figure of Catalan Modernisme]. When I first entered the studio at Cushing, I hadn’t decided I was going to do architecture yet. I was exploring mixed media — and also theatre. It wasn’t until my junior year that I discovered that I’m really interested in architecture.

When I am working on my portfolio, I can sit there for like 10 hours a day and I won’t even feel tired. The first stage of my work is always just sketching — like, maybe 10 or 100 different drafts — where I’m exploring different ideas for a structure. I only stop when I’m completely satisfied. A lot of my inspiration is from life. I collect details of things I notice in my scrapbook. For example, the light I am working on right now, I actually got inspiration from some mushrooms I saw in another student’s work. I just liked the structure of it, and so I took characteristics and fragments of it and incorporated it into my own work.

I never know what the final model will look like. The structure I have now is a draft model. I’m going to work on it for a few weeks, or even a month, until I’m satisfied with it. I’ve found that I just love the studio environment. I think I’m going to keep on this path and keep working on it and see if I can make it in an architecture-related career.

Isla Mottaghi ’27

Lillian Van Zandt ’26

CERAMICS

Ceramics students explore a variety of techniques employed while working with clay, including: hand-building, wheel-throwing, glazing and decorative styles, and firing techniques. While developing technical proficiency, individual creative expression is encouraged. Students learn how to critique their own work and that of others. They also learn about ceramics from different historical periods and cultures.

Mikey O’Neil ’26

I really enjoy being on the wheel and creating things, because that’s really the start of the failure process and learning from it. Throwing clay seems so easy when you’re looking at it on a video, but when you’re actually doing it, any small mistake, and it will be lopsided, it will fall off, it will break… so, just going through that process of learning how to throw pieces that are, say, an armslength tall, you have so much failure, but you learn so much.

Then, once you get onto the glazes, it’s like an entirely different realm. Any two glaze combinations do not come out the same. So it’s all about just experimenting and figuring out what you like. You get pieces that come out amazing and you love it. Then you get pieces where it comes out of the first kiln and you’re ready to glaze it, and you’re like, ’Oh, this is going to be amazing.’ And then once you put the glaze on it, it’s like, ‘Oh, no. Can’t believe this happened!’ But it’s one of those things where you just learn from it.

I never really considered myself somebody that would be into this creative aspect of things — but the experiences that I’ve had in ceramics from last year to now — and just the growth that I’ve seen —I would say that I’m definitely on the road to being an artist. When I’m on the wheel, it’s just like everything else falls away. It’s like I could spend hours on the wheel just doing my work, and it would be gone in a blink of an eye. It’s pretty awesome.

DRAWING + PAINTING

Cushing’s 40’x 80’ Shevenell Drawing and Painting studio is filled with natural light and is the ideal space for students pursuing painting, drawing, architectural design, art history, and other artistic endeavors. The studio also serves as a space for art shows, demonstrations, and workshops.

METALSMITHING

Students learn to make jewelry and small sculptures using traditional metal fabrication techniques in the Johnson Metalsmithing Studio. After learning the basic skills, students are encouraged to create their own designs and processes. In addition, resources and opportunities for learning gemstone cutting, gemstone faceting, and stone inlay techniques are available.

Theophilous Edema ’26

Metalsmithing is a way for me to express myself and tell stories. It brings me joy and it’s fun! In a recent piece, I made two maps of Africa in the form of necklace pendants. The first one had holes in it. The holes represented how most people view Africa: poor, bad government, uncivilized, and with no water. So, I made another one that has crystal and precious stones in it. This shows that Africa is not just a place where everyone and everything is bad, there are hidden gemstones — the people, culture, food, etc — in it. If we can just look closer, we can see that there’s actually good in there and Africa is abundant and radiant.

I consider myself an artist who is still learning different techniques. I find it so amazing when making a project… starting something from scratch and then turning it into a fine product. For example I could pick up a random iron or stone outside and bring it to the studio and work on it, turning it into something beautiful. I sometimes think of metalsmithing as a metaphor. There are people out there who are raw, just like the materials I use to work in the studio... maybe they don’t have a good situation going on... and if we work with them and help them, we can impact their lives and help them turn themselves into a finished, fine product. By working with them, you discover and uncover the hidden beauty within.

Cushing Academy has given me the opportunity to become an artist. I like that we have the freedom to explore and be creative in our own way. You just gotta trust yourself, be free, and be happy. I’ve found that metalsmithing brings me peace and happiness.

FUSED + STAINED GLASS

Students learn the processes of both fused and stained glass, including glass cutting, grinding, kiln fusing and slumping, copper foiling, and soldering. Project choices range from building stained glass suncatchers and hinged-covered boxes to fused glass pendants, ornaments, dishes, and bowls. As students’ skills develop, they are encouraged to explore a variety of techniques and create their own unique designs.

Sophia Zhang ’26

I had never even heard about stained glass before coming to Cushing. But the first time I broke glass in class — the process just attracted me, and I’ve been in the glass studio now for all four years! When I come into the studio, it’s like I forget time. During my free time, I will often find myself in the glass studio doing some work, and I think that has helped me to relax.

I like the whole process. I make a design and then decide which colors and which glass pieces I should use. Then I break the glass, grind it, and put it together. I prefer stained glass to fused glass because I feel like I control the whole process — I decide which piece is going where, how big it is, and which ways it will show. For fused glass, your results depend on many other things, like the temperature of the glass and how it goes through the fusing process. So you’re not 100% in control. Maybe you cut a piece perfectly, but it just comes out different than you expect.

One of my friends, Wendy — who graduated last year — gave me a lot of confidence because she was doing very complicated pieces. She inspired me to push myself and my designs, so I decided to do a more complicated woman and a horse this year. Before doing a design, I always have an idea in my mind. I’m thinking, ‘how should this go?’ and ‘what will this look like at the end?’ It’s so rewarding when I finish a piece and it’s 100% what I saw in my mind.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Cushing offers students a variety of ways to explore photography. With the opportunity to work in both digital and traditional black and white film, students learn the technical and aesthetic aspects of creating photographs with artistic merit. Cushing’s photography studios include a digital lab, studio lighting, and a 10-person darkroom. Canon digital and film cameras are provided.

Nathan Lansky ’26

I really love capturing a moment. Like in a hockey game, there’s so many things going on, but if you can find the one main moment, you can focus on it and tell the story so much better. You can draw a picture for people by showing them a detail they might have missed from the whole game.

Originally, when I was starting photography, I was just taking pictures of what was in front of me. But now, I’ve learned how to make a picture look how I want it to. I can adjust my F-stop to add more background to an image, or adjust my shutter speed to allow more or less light to come in. And I’ve learned a lot of techniques on how to light my subject — or light behind my subject.

I particularly enjoy doing commercial work in the photo lab. Little things go a long way. Like adding water droplets to a bottle of cologne, and lighting it so the droplets shine. Or experimenting with camera shake to create exposure effects.

I’m really interested in motion — I’m going to college in Florida for engineering so I can eventually work on race cars. My campus will be really close to the NASCAR circuit. So I’m hoping to take photos at NASCAR races and then beach photos, too. Anything, just to keep the photography going.

CUSHING ACADEMY

VISUAL ARTS PROGRAM

Cushing Academy is home to one of the most highly respected visual arts programs in secondary education. The Emily Fisher Landau Center for the Visual Arts offers the program the highest caliber, professional-level facilities for every medium offered, including:

Glass Studio

Maude Bowen Carter Gallery

Photo Lab + Darkroom

Pond Ceramics Studio

Shevenell Drawing + Painting Studio

Johnson Metalsmithing Studio

The Visual Art Department cultivates an authentic environment where students develop their personal and artistic voice through rigorous curiosity and bold experimentation. In a global learning community that celebrates diversity, we meet each student where they are while fostering a confident and empowered sense of belonging. Students engage in tenacious and joyful innovation, pushing creative boundaries through fearless exploration of materials, concepts, and perspectives.

We are a vibrant community of makers and thinkers, and creativity flourishes when students feel supported to take risks, challenge conventions, and discover their unique identity. We nurture artists who embrace both tradition and transformation, developing the skills, vision, and courage to contribute meaningfully to the ever-evolving landscape of the arts. Students of all levels emerge from our program as confident leaders, equipped with a variety of techniques, conceptual depth, and creative courage.

PURSUING AN ARTS CAREER

Many Cushing graduates matriculate to prestigious art schools and enjoy professional careers in the arts. Below is a list of colleges and universities attended by recent art department alumni:

The Art Institute of Chicago

Boston Architectural College

Boston University

Carnegie Mellon University

Cornell University

The New School/Parsons School of Design

Northeastern University

Massachusetts College of Art

Pratt Institute

Rhode Island School of Design

Ringling College of Art + Design

Savannah College of Art + Design

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

School of Visual Arts

Skidmore College

Stanford University

Syracuse University

Tufts University

OFF-CAMPUS ART TRIPS AND EXCURSIONS

Cushing students are frequently exposed to the larger creative world through the lens of off-site photo shoots, en plein air painting and drawing, studio visits, museum trips, and engagement in our local artist community. Additionally, to embrace the applicability and importance of the arts, we connect current students with creative alumni through class and zoom visits.

Tulane University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Davis

University of California, San Diego

Wentworth Institute of Technology