Columbia High School photography teacher Jon Fisher with his work
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Columbia High School’s Domareki Gallery, where students usually display their artwork throughout the year, is showing the work of their teachers until Monday, Oct. 14. “Fantasy & Figures” features the work of all eight CHS art teachers: Kate Dodd, Jon Fisher, Curtis Grayson III, Cindy Malhotra, Kirk Maynard, Paul Morigliano, Karen Murphy and Nicole Thomas. The show gives the teachers a chance to exhibit their work and their students a chance to see what their teachers do outside the walls of CHS.
“It’s a really good thing, not only for the students, but for us,” Fisher said in an interview with the News-Record on Oct. 2. “It helps to show students what our work looks like, and for us, it makes us feel like ‘I should keep something up and running and not just teaching.’ Teaching has a lot of layers to it. It’s not just standing in front of a classroom. If a student sees that, I think they respect you, and it motivates them too.”
Fisher, who teaches film and digital photography, has six large photographs in the show. He tells his students that the word “photography” comes from two Greek words and means “writing with light,” so he used that idea in his own photos. Slowing down his camera’s shutter speed and shaking it around give his images an effect that makes them look like paintings.
“Photography is easily seen as a resourceful tool because you can capture things that the eye doesn’t see,” Fisher said. “In the beginning it was used as a scientific tool. I’m doing it for artistic reasons.”
Some of his photography students have seen the show, and Fisher said one was asking technical questions about how he took his photos. Malhotra, who teaches computer graphics and production journalism, said the same thing in an interview with the News-Record on Oct. 2.
“It’s important for students to see what we do aside from teaching,” she said. “We actually make, which is important to see. They see us from a different perspective and open up on a more personal level, which is nice. They’re always curious about you, and with this, you become more human as opposed to just an authority figure.”
Most of the art teachers, including Malhotra, have previously had their work in art shows or published. Aside from being able to present their work to students, she said the faculty show is a good way to keep practicing their craft.
“It helps keep our chops up and maintain as artists,” Malhotra said. “And it adds to the idea that your child is being taught by someone who’s producing.”
Dodd, who teaches AP art history and Art 2, 3 and 4, often uses outside-the-box materials in her work, like old books, rather than traditional art supplies. Her pieces in the CHS show imitate denim, but she also often makes sculptures and environmental installations.
“It’s a totally different part of me,” she said of her own work in an interview with the News-Record on Oct. 2. “If they see my work they definitely see what they won’t at school. I like that it surprises them.”
CHS senior Rachel Lemonnier, one of Fisher’s photography teaching assistants, said the show does surprise students.
“You can see what they’re doing outside of school,” Lemonnier said in an interview with the News-Record on Oct. 2. “They’re really passionate and not just doing it to make money because they can teach. It’s motivational and lifts our spirits. We could use some of that.”
Photos by Amanda Valentovic and Courtesy of Jon Fisher
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