A Visual Legacy
The artist who steps forth in front of a classroom of students is not only nurturing a new generation of artists but also the teachers that will carry that legacy into the future.
I was lucky enough to work with James Fortune’s widow, Peggy, as well as many faculty members, and Fortune’s students to create a major celebration of this New Hampshire treasure.
What does a visual legacy look like?
James Fortune worked as an artist for over fifty years. During his long and fruitful career he not only created enduring works of art; he made lasting contributions to art education at what was then Plymouth State College and now continues to serve another generation of students and future alumni as Plymouth State University.
In the chapter of FROM THE CONTINUUM: JAMES FORTUNE, A FOURFOLD RETROSPECTIVE sited in the Karl Drerup Art Gallery, his works are joined by those of his teacher and mentor, Karl Drerup, the namesake of this gallery and the first art professor at Plymouth State College, as well as those of a small group of his students, including Joe Blayda, Jan Hodges Coville, Randall Hoyt, Robin Peringer, and Roland Simard.
How do teaching artists shape the lives and works of their students?
Plymouth State University continues to be a leader in the state in providing a model for the development of art educators, a legacy made possible by its continued commitment to faculty that work not only as educators but as practicing artists. As Tom Driscoll, who has experienced Plymouth State as both a student and professor, has commented: “By working with practicing artists, students recognize that this is a lifetime commitment and their professors are engaged in the same process, with similar trials and tribulations as they are having, only at a different level.”
Fortune has described his work as “visual poetry that has the capacity to take the viewer beyond themselves.” This metaphor is apt not only as a description of his own artistic endeavors but also of the role of the educator to take students on a journey beyond their current horizons to explore new ideas and extend their experiences.
