From October 7 through November 7, ArtsWorcester is partnering with the Worcester Public Schools to present the showcase “Virtually Identical” and display the works of teachers within the city.

“Artists are teachers, too, and this show lets you really see their energy and skill,” said Executive Director Juliet Feibel. “The students are so lucky to have that sort of inspiration and enthusiasm in the classroom.”

This is the eighth year that the group of faculty have shown exclusively together, according to Joe DiGregorio, a kindergarten through sixth grade teacher at Lake View Elementary School and Lincoln Street School as well as an organizer and participant of the exhibit.

This year’s theme, “Virtually Identical” pushes the artists to reflect on the realities that they have inhabited for over a year now, first spent in isolation and now in new ways of gathering and teaching. Many works include still-lifes, landscapes, abstractions, compositions, and mythical allusions. There are a variety of mediums used throughout the exhibition as well.

DiGregorio said that the theme of the exhibit came from looking at what is happening in the world as well as in the teachers’ own lives. 

“Art teachers are an invaluable resource to the city, teaching its future how to approach art-making in an ever-evolving world,” Feibel said. ‘When a teacher exhibits their work, their students see much more than a photograph or a painting. They see a model of a future in the arts.”

For DiGregorio this idea of teachers working and showing off their own art struck close to home.

“The emphasis is for us to showcase what teachers do when they’re not in the classroom,” he said.

As a student, DiGregorio took a field trip to a studio in Upton in ninth grade. He said that they saw stained glass artwork and it amazed him. He wanted to try his hand at the craft. Though his art teacher didn’t specialize in that medium, she did have a stained glass kit that she allowed him to work with and find his own path.

“That always added a level of interest for me,” DiGregorio said. “It validated what they said in class because it was a working artist. It gave them cred.”

DiGregorio said that he wouldn’t see his science teacher doing experiments outside of the school. His English teacher didn’t write, and his math teacher didn’t theorize. 

“They were masters in the classroom, but they left it at the door,” DiGregorio said. “(Seeing my art teacher) gave me hope. That could be my path one day, that I could do my work and teach.”

DiGregorio has three pieces in the exhibit, all titled “Red Pepper.” One is made of glass mosaic. The other is stained glass, and the final is acrylic. 

Timmary Leary, who teaches at Central Administration, said that the art exhibit could be a catalyst for positive things within the community and for her own students.

“This show really highlights (the art teachers) and what they bring to the community,” Leary said. “It might not be about the show itself but the people committed to the work.”

With 51 art teachers in Worcester, Leary said that the community really is able to connect and move forward with the art exhibit. 

Leary has three pieces in the exhibit. Each is acrylic and representational of space and time, particularly in the age of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think that my whole world inched itself back in,” Leary said. “I think the idea of limiting, but not in a bad way, in a way to push…My pieces are a celebration of shape, typography, and color and the overlap of those things.”

Leary made her work in the space she had at home for both artistic endeavors and teaching. She said the fact that she and many others in her department continued to work and display their creative ambitions is unique compared to other academic areas. 

For Callie Mulcahy, who teaches at North High School, the sentiment of seeing teachers’ work outside of the classroom also rang true. 

“I think it’s super important because it allows the public to see what we do outside of school and how it relates to what we teach,” Mulcahy said, adding that she often tries to teach her students as many different mediums as possible and then tasks them with different themes, such as their identity, to create art from their own ideas.

Mulcahy, who has been part of the exhibit for four years now, painted two acrylic pieces: “Virtually Identical #1” and “Virtually Identical #2.” Both are inspired by photos she took. Flowers are drawn on top of a pixelated grid. The block version is actually the same colors and representation of the blooms, just in a more abstract way.

“It’s cool they chose something that reflects on our past year,” Mulcahy said. “It was a unique year.”

Participating artists in the 2021 exhibit include:

Ben Adwetewa-Badu (South High Community School)

Keri Anderson (Norrback Avenue School)

Laurie Atchu (Doherty Memorial High School)

Jay Benotti (Burncoat High School

Jackie Braxton (May Street School, University Park Campus School)

Rebecca Deweese (Doherty Memorial High School)

Joe DiGregorio (Lake View Elementary School, Lincoln Street School)

Kate Egnaczak (Jacob Hiatt Magnet School)

Kallie Hunter (Rice Square Elementary School, May Street Elementary School)

Courtney Johnson (Clark Street Community School, Burncoat Street Preparatory School)

Alana Juneau (Worcester Arts Magnet School)

Susan Kellogg (Nelson Place Elementary School)

Timmary Leary (Central Administration)

Sharon Mansfield (Districtwide)

Kerry McCormack (City View School)

Dana Mendes (North High School)

Callie Mulcahy (North High School)

Erica Murphy (Grafton Street Elementary School, Challenge and Reach Academy)

Amie Nemes (Doherty Memorial High School)

Ti Puch (Chandler Elementary School, McGrath Elementary School)

Jaime Sullivan (Roosevelt Elementary School)

Gennaro Varriale-Gonzalez (Union Hill Elementary School, Nelson Place Elementary School)

Ann Villareal (Chandler Magnet School)

Fran Warner (Dr. Arthur F. Sullivan Middle School)

Yihong Zhou (Gates Lane School of International Studies)

 

To view the exhibit, go to ArtsWorcester, 44 Portland Street, Worcester, Thursday through Sunday from 12-5 p.m., or go to the organization’s website at https://artsworcester.org.