Artist-in-Residence Spurs Groton's Creativity

Students had never really thought about gloves with such purpose. The gloves perched on an easel in front of the classroomlike the ones they were about to createbore little resemblance to the utilitarian pairs stuffed in the pockets of their winter coats.
All week, under the tutelage of artist-in-residence Donna Rhae Marder, Groton students contemplated gloves as art. 

Marder's intricate works of paper were on display at Groton School's Brodigan Gallery during the fall term; she worked with students throughout the week courtesy of the Mudge Fellowship, established by the Mudge Foundation in 1992 to enhance Groton students' exposure to the arts.
 
Each class got right to work, gathering paper, fabric, and other materials: some dreamed up delicate sculptural gloves, while others had a more functional focus, incorporating tools or combs into the fingers. The glove project, according to art teacher and Brodigan Gallery curator Beth Van Gelder, involved not just creative expression, but also invention and engineering.
 
Marder started using paper in her sewing machine around 1980, and has incorporated a wide variety of items into her paper art, from old letters, snapshots, and magazine pages to teabags, coffee filters, baseball cards, and wrapping paper. Materials inspire her, as they inspired her Groton students. Marder also introduced students to the sewing machine—a novelty for many.
 
Marder's Brodigan Gallery exhibit, "Sew What Again," was on display from September 15 through December 12. The Groton community met with the artist during a reception in the Brodigan Gallery on December 7.

See students working with Donna Rhae Marder and the gloves they created on our multimedia page.
 
 
 
Back