stay connected Juarez Hawkins...’80 “A Series of Noble Experiments”
F
or artist and educator Juarez Hawkins, the human story has always been a pressing concern. “My mother was a portrait painter; I grew up looking at faces,” she explains. Hawkins has followed the thread of this story throughout her career, albeit in her own way.
More recently, Hawkins shifted gears again, this time to teaching through arts integration, employing the arts to supplement the curriculum initiatives of public school teachers working with K–12 students. Because she works with a predominantly African American population, Hawkins notes, she also uses art to increase students’ feelings of cultural connectedness, showing them how they fit into a tradition, not only historically but also in contemporary practice. Hawkins also uses art to explore her own place in the fabric of the community, an interest she says was generated in part by PA instructor Thomas Lyons’s American history classes. “I can’t speak to the periods and historical examples with the facility that he did,” she avers, “but he definitely sparked my interest in the past.” Hawkins is presently giving voice to her ideas by creating masks, busts, figurative pots, portrait paintings, assemblages, and abstract sculpture she refers to as “perceptuary”—an amalgamation of perception and sanctuary—in an attempt to understand the ways in which art can serve as a tool for community building. “As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more introspective and my interest has shifted toward the subject of aging and the inevitable changes we all experience over time,” she observes. “I would like to expand the dialogue in this area—I’m an older artist and I want to make art that’s socially relevant. As a society, we tend to stay clear, in art and in culture, of the subject of aging. I’d like to help change that. I have an intense curiosity about the subject and while I’m not sure how my desire to plumb the topic will manifest, I know there’s a need for it.”
Isadore Howard
Tony Smith
After graduating from Andover, Hawkins attended Northwestern University, earning a degree in computer studies with a minor in art. Once out of college, she worked in data entry while developing an incubator business producing African American greeting cards. A desire to create a better product soon led Hawkins to earn a second degree in graphic design. A period of teaching graphic design followed, then she transitioned to freelance consulting in the field, spending a decade creating everything from billboards to print campaigns. All the while, she continued to cultivate her own creative side—designing greeting cards as well as drawing, painting, and exhibiting her work, first at craft fairs and later at fine art galleries. “Essentially my career has been a series of noble experiments that are driven by my curiosity coupled with a need to survive,” she explains.
his family in Tennessee. He and his wife, Nicki, are homeschooling their young son, Wes. I also caught up with Josh Greenfield in NYC, where he graciously answered my daughter’s questions about being a writer. Most recently, I have shared life’s ups and downs with Verneice “Teri” Hensey Starling. This year, we celebrated her oldest daughter’s law school graduation and remembered the life of her dear mother. Teri has three grown daughters and is self-employed in Arizona, where she continues to meet life’s challenges with her customary aplomb. Amy Davidsen is excited to help with our class notes and to get back in touch with old friends. However, she doubts she can do justice to Kate Thomes’s humorous notes and adventurous life. Last spring, Amy caught up with Aimee Thorpe MacFarlane, Liz Brennan, Suzanne Sherrill, and the “still fabulous” Danny Wheeler ’79 at her Brown University reunion. She wrote that she “strongly believes that the friendships forged in our teens really do last forever, despite the years apart.” Amy sees Nick Shufro frequently in NYC, as they both work on solutions to climate change. Nick is at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Amy is at the Climate Group, after many years at JPMorgan Chase. Paula Caballero is also actively engaged in protecting our planet and was honored with the prestigious Zayed International Prize for the Environment in 2014 for her work as the director of economic, social, and environmental affairs for Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Paula is now at the World Bank as senior director of the environment and natural resources global practice. Amy also shared her deep sadness for the loss last summer of Abigail Jones Feder, who “truly embodied the spirit of Andover—full of love, laughter, intelligence, and generosity, for all.” See you in June. —Jane
—Lori Ferguson Lori Ferguson is a freelance writer based in southern New Hampshire. She enjoys writing about lifestyle topics as well as all things artistic.
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Andover | Spring 2015
Juarez Hawkins, The Earth That Feeds Me, polychromed stoneware