Art thesis on aging
A studio art major with a special interest in portraiture, Meghan Murray '16 was determined
last fall to do something unusual for her senior thesis-"something outside my comfort
zone," she says. She chose to focus on aging and painted 17 portraits of residents
of the Beacon Pointe Memory Care Community, about 30 minutes south of Skidmore's campus.
A Massachusetts resident who plans to paint professionally when she graduates, Murray
started her project last September by painting her grandmother. "It gave me a chance
to really get to know her and opened up a dialog," she says.
When she heard that Beacon Pointe was looking for a student to paint portraits of
its residents, Murray connected with Sara McFadden, its director of recreation and
engagement, and started her first portrait at Beacon Pointe a week later.
Murray began by taking photos of her subject. These were her main reference when she returned to her studio in Saisselin Art Building to paint. From behind her camera, she asked her subjects about their lives, probing their faltering memories for gems of recollection. Later, when painting, "I remembered their stories," she says, and they helped inform her portraits.
McFadden was delighted by the project. "It reminded our residents that they're important
and that there are people who care about them and want to hear their life stories,"
she says.
In her exhibit, Murray tells these stories in brief biographies accompanying each
portrait. Among them:
- Tom, an Army helicopter mechanic who grew up in North Dakota, and who told Murray
about his experiences in Italy
- Delores, a former model who recalled having her photo taken with her hometown's most
decorated war veteran
- Marshall, who grew up on an Indiana farm, spent 35 years in the military, and lived
in Chicago and St. Louis
- A coal miner nicknamed "Peaches," who described for Murray the miniature horses that
used to pull coal wagons out of the mines
- Don, a retiree of the Rhode Island School of Design, who shared with Murray his portfolio of ceramic sculptures
The residents enjoyed their interactions with Murray, even if they weren't entirely delighted to see portrayals of their thinning skin and wrinkles, or "laugh lines" as Murray calls them. For her part, she says, "I think they're beautiful. I feel I'm celebrating lives well-lived."
Lisa Fierstein '16
Moviemaker
Lisa Fierstein '16 made this video, her first ever, for a course in Skidmore's Moore
Documentary Studies Collaborative. Says course instructor Vickie Riley, "Lisa has
a natural ability for storytelling. She applied that in the class and learned elements
of filmmaking, along with composition, storyboarding and shot planning, using a digital
camera, Final Cut Pro editing software, and how to emphasize visual storytelling."
Fierstein had earlier taken an MDOCS audio documentary course. For her videomaking debut, she collaborated with MDOCS classmates Maddie King '18, Leila Farrer '16, and Eli Ruben '17, and she had Jack Mullin '17 compose the music.
The video quickly made an impact, and Fierstein was accepted to a San Francisco film festival on aging. (Riley connected her with MDOCS director Jordana Dym, who, she says, "graciously supported Lisa in the festival application process.") The proud instructor reports that "Lisa is beyond excited, and she credits her MDOCS classes for her success."
Fierstein is now working with a National Public Radio affiliate in Michigan, producing both audio and video documentaries.
