Art Room

Steve Halton

“The Art room has special memories for me. I was not a good student in elementary school. I was slow to learn to read but was also bored just sitting all day. Coming into East Hill and having the freedom to choose what I wanted to do was a remarkable opening for me.

I think I spent my first 2 months in the school in the art room working on projects. I had always liked making things, and this gave me an outlet. But my curiosity lead me out to other areas and learning has never been the same for me. That was the best thing I learned at East Hill was how to learn, and how to let your curiosity guide and fuel you.” – Sid Bardwell

Linoleum prints, thanks to Betty Singer

“I spent so many happy hours in the Art Room – I used to draw imaginary worlds with india ink on paper. Some of the imaginary houses were cylindrical, with glass walls, and curtains.

Peter Triestman in the art room

Then I wanted to do a three-dimensional model of one of the worlds, and Betty helped me do it in plaster of paris, poured into a giant sand table we used for making sand candles. But it was too big, and we didn’t use any armature, and it cracked when we tried to take it out.” – Karen Carr

“Bill Simmons and his wife Gail were also great. Gail taught me to throw pots on her potter’s wheel.” – Sid Bardwell

“Another time we took a field trip to the river to dig clay to make pottery. Then we came home and everybody stood around in the Art Room pressing the clay through sieves to get the little pebbles out.

I grew up to work as an archaeologist on Roman pottery, and this one experience digging clay out of a riverbank helped me as a student understand what it means to make pottery.

My mom’s head – Karen Carr

East Hill had a kiln, too, and I learned to throw pottery (though I have forgotten now). I used an armature to sculpt my mother’s head and glazed it and fired it and gave it to her for a present. She still has it.” – Karen Carr

“the stuff we did with enameling.” – Linda Wyatt
“yes in the little kiln.” – David Rosenbaum

Published by Karen Carr

Dr. Karen Carr is Associate Professor Emerita, Department of History, Portland State University. She holds a doctorate in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, or buy her book, Vandals to Visigoths.

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