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Press

Oxbow Teachers Journey to the Arctic - The Napa Register

06/10/19

The Napa Register recognizes Oxbow art and science faculty, Megan Broughton and Alex Keilty, who have been selected for a competitive residency in the Arctic Circle.

"The expedition is a two-week sailing adventure around the Svalbard Archipelago, a group of islands roughly halfway between the northern tip of Norway and the North Pole.

They will sail with a group of other artists, scientists, architects and educators who have been selected to experience the wild majesty of the islands and to practice their art, as part of this artists’ residency program.

Every year a call is put out for proposals to artists and scientists who are interested in seeing the Svalbard Islands with a group of like-minded, but diverse, individuals. Applicants are vetted by a jury. Acceptance is based on their portfolio of work and the proposal for what they would do were they accepted to the program. Since its inception in 2009, it has become one of the most globally competitive programs of its type.

Broughton and Keilty have applied together as educators. Broughton is the printmaking instructor and dorm head, and Keilty teaches agricultural ecology. They plan to use this experience to form a similar program for the Oxbow School."

Read the full Napa Register article here.

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I learned to drop all previous assumptions I had about people because I had never met anyone like the other students at Oxbow. For the first time, my peers and their insightful thinking inspired me. For example, during the ‘Einstein’s Dreams’ presentations, I kept looking around the room thinking, I can’t believe all of these students are talking the way I think.

— Sara DeLong, Spring 2010

In the year leading up to Oxbow, I became obsessed with the program, I was entranced with reading testimonials and researching interdisciplinary learning styles. When I arrived at Oxbow I was never disappointed, despite my endless expectations. I will forever cherish the time I spent at Oxbow and the connections I made there. Through Oxbow I was able to hone into the ideas I was thinking about, to refine my artistic process and to see the world in a new light every day of my life. I'm not going to say that without Oxbow I wouldn't be the person I am today, but I will say that without Oxbow it would have taken me at least four years to become who I am after one Oxbow semester.

— Phoebe Dubisch, Fall 2018

The art that goes on in most high schools is usually relatively skill-based. At Oxbow, there is more emphasis on looking and seeing and more critical thinking about what you are doing, the human connection, that personal element. Through art you can begin to understand yourself better. That may be the biggest eye-opener for students. It is almost a preview of college. Get out of the mechanical factory high school education and get into something open, new, and invigorating in a small environment.

— Bill Barrett, Former Oxbow Board Member, Former Executive Director of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD)

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