The Deerfield Girl Several weeks ago, I received an email from Kathleen Smith Keefe because she had heard the sad news of Tim Engelland’s passing. Kathy and I went to high school together, but in a purely Deerfield context, she is sister to Mike ’80, KC ’82, Danny ’85, Jimmy ’86, and Patrick ’91, and the only daughter of Coach and Mrs. Jim Smith. She is also the original Deerfield Girl. For nearly three decades Tim taught art and photography at Deerfield; he coached basketball and lacrosse and lived in a dorm. And in the midst of his many obligations, he created art—beautiful, unique, inspired work that can be found on campus, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the National Library of Ireland, and in many private collections. For years his wood and linocuts served as the Academy’s holiday greeting cards, sending Tim’s work to every continent. His magnum opus, however, resides in the Memorial Building. In her email, Kathy recalled the origins of the Deerfield Girl; Tim had her stand on a “lazy Susan for humans,” which he would turn an eighth of an inch, and at every turn, snap a picture. The process took a couple of weeks, and the thing Kathy remembers the most isn’t the tedium of standing still for long stretches of time, but the fact that Tim was so determined to create a timeless girl to stand alongside the Deerfield Boy. I think he succeeded. Among the many letters, emails, and remembrances that poured into Deerfield prior to Tim’s memorial service, came this one from an alumna in the Class of 1991: “As one of Deerfield’s first girls since 1948, I am so appreciative of Tim Engelland’s statue of ‘The Deerfield Girl.’ It made my female classmates and me feel like we belonged and were fully welcomed into a long-standing and special tradition. I can remember rubbing the Deerfield Boy’s nose as a child with my father and brother. Now I return with my three children, including my daughter, to rub the Deerfield Girl’s nose for luck. Mr. Engelland gave us all quite the gift in this statue, and his legacy will thrive as a result.” She’s right, of course, and I am reminded of the words of another artist who wrote: “Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies.”
—Jessica Day, Managing Editor
Director of Communications
Managing Editor
Support Specialist and Contributing Writer
eCommunications Specialist
Graphic Designer
Production Coordinator and Contributing Writer
David Thiel
Jessica Day
JR Delaney
Danäe DiNicola
Brent M. Hale
Anna Newman
Editorial Office: Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA 01342. Telephone: 413-774-1860, communications@deerfield.edu Publication Office: The Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402. Third class postage paid at Deerfield, Massachusetts, and additional mailing office. Deerfield Magazine is published in the fall, winter, and spring. Deerfield Academy admits students of any race, color, creed, handicap, sexual orientation or national origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or available to students at the academy. The academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, handicap, sexual orientation or national origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship, or any other programs administered by the academy. Copyright © The Trustees of Deerfield Academy (all rights reserved)
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Winter 2013 : Volume 70, No. 2