SCATTTeacher, Artist, Curator

Work by G.A. Scattergood-Mooreand his former Dana Hall students

Dana Art GalleryMay 9 — June 4, 2016

Self Portrait, Nova Scotiaoil on canvas

Oriole (Detail), oil on canvas

Gene Arthur Scattergood-Moore, better known as Mr. Scattergood—or just plain “Scatt”—taught art at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts from 1968-2006. During this thirty-eight year tenure he taught, challenged, instructed, entertained, debated, and inspired countless students in the art studios of the school. In that span of time—from the late 60’s to the first decade of the 21st century—his dedication to teaching, direct conversational style, and memorable personality helped to create an atmosphere of a focused study of the arts, peppered with experimentation, and balanced with humor.

At the same time he was a practicing artist as well, moving freely between drawing, painting and other mediums, exploring subject matter from moody self-portraits and studies from art historical sources, to politically-charged silk-screens, large-scale drawings of other artists, and drawings featuring horse skulls, gazing eyes, and dead birds.

In addition, he founded the Dana Art Gallery in 1975, and for over 30 years brought shows by artists from the Boston area and beyond, exhibiting a wide variety of art, from theme shows and contemporary crafts, to traditional painting and art from around the world, and every conceivable medium and style as well. His curatorial mission was always focused on bringing vital artists and art to inspire his students and the greater community.

This exhibit and catalog attempt to bring together these three aspects of Scatt’s long career—teacher, artist, and curator—on the

occasion of his 75th birthday and the 10th anniversary of his retirement.

Included in the exhibit are pieces from Scattergood as well as a selection of works from a small number of his former students, all of whom have gone on to successful careers in the arts. In addition, the exhibiting artists and scores of other former students have volunteered their written remembrances of Scatt as a teacher and mentor for those many years. These begin to give a glimpse into the kind of inspirational presence Scatt had become to his many students over the course of nearly forty years.

No life, especially the life of an artist, is as simple and as neatly described as the essay in a gallery catalog, and the life of G. A. Scattergood-Moore is certainly no exception. But for Scatt’s students the important thing was that he brought his life—and his passion—to his work. And it made all the difference.

Michael Frassinelli

Scatt: A Introduction Burnt Self Portrait oil on canvas

Burnt Self Portrait oil on canvas

Above: Scattergood-Moore in the Dana art studio, date unknownBelow: detail from a 1973 art faculty photo

Dear friends and former residents of the Dana Art Studio: thank you for participating in this exhibition with me and most importantly for being wonderful students and creative, caring adults. I’m extraordinarily grateful to have had you students, (as well as many others, too many to include in this exhibit) sharing part of my life and assisting in making my teaching career successful...

Although I am not surprised, I am overwhelmed with the quality of your work and am honored you are willing to share it with me and the Dana Hall community. I am pleased that we are all back and sharing the gallery walls together—this time we are equals and our student/teacher relationship is a thing of the past

I’ve especially enjoyed remembering you and your peers while you were students of mine but seeing the diversity of experience and passion in your lives today is even more rewarding and fills my heart with joy. Some of you have built careers based on your interests in the arts: drawing, painting, print-making, photography. Others have broadened interests and creativity in other areas: scientific illustration and zoology, community activism, ecology, commercial arts and singing. You are landscape designers, a Hollywood costume designer and film editor, educators, writers ... the list seems endless.

I’m not much of a writer. (As at least one of your mothers kindly commented to me regarding my advisor reports.) I prefer communicating verbally with a touch of expressive emphasis (á la Jack Nicholson) to stress important points.

A few words...

“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”

“Keep growing quietly and seriously throughout your whole development; you cannot disturb it more rudely than by looking outward and expecting from outside replies to questions that only your inmost feeling in your most hushed hour can perhaps answer.”

― - Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Profile Self Portrait: Use No Hooks20” x 30” charcoal drawing and collage

During 1967-68, while painting and writing my thesis for a Master’s degree in Drawing and Painting at the University of Cincinnati, I sent out many letters seeking employment to Boston-area colleges and universities. Dana was the only secondary school I applied to (frankly, I was very unsure I would be prepared to teach art to adolescent girls) and only applied because my friend, mentor and former instructor, Sigmund Abeles, was a teacher at Wellesley College at the time.

By the time I arrived at Dana in 1968 from graduate school at the University of Cincinnati, I had already had a fair amount of teaching experience—mostly at the college and adult level—and until recently, I never considered myself a “teacher”; an artist for sure, a mentor where I could be, and maybe an instructor, but never a teacher. Back then, “Questioning Authority” meant questioning the values of family, government, religion and, of course, teachers. Early in my life I crossed swords with my Sunday school teacher, the nuns who taught me in second grade, and many other teachers, who had been mostly “the authority” first and guides and instructors second.

I can assure you I had no intention of ever teaching in a “private secondary school” aka “finishing school” but the head of school at the time, Mrs. Edith B. Phelps, hired me and insisted I remain at least two or three years before moving on to the college or university level.

I hope I helped each of you to open your mind to visual thinking, and to give you an appreciation for a wide spectrum of art through my teaching. I hope I have spoken to your hearts as, over the years, you have spoken to mine.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the many other alumnae, former art students and supporters of the Art Gallery, especially my dear friend Lee Garrison (RIP) and Dale Bragdon, (both from Dana the class of ‘45.)

Thank you, as well, my long-time colleague Suzette Jones, and good friends and former colleagues, Michael Frassinelli and Mary Ann McQuillan, for their many

“Don’t be too quick to draw conclusions from what happens to you; simply let it happen. Otherwise it will be too easy for you to look with blame... at your past, which naturally has a share with everything that now meets you.”

—Rilke

Eye 2003 10.5” x 10.25” charcoal drawing

Many great works of art strive to cross, blur, or render fluid the line between art and life. That is why art has the power to transform us, give us solace, and move us to tears. A Boston Globe reviewer once referred to the Dana Gallery under G.A. Scattergood’s directorship as a, “hidden treasure of the western suburbs.” While indeed a treasure, the Dana Gallery has been far from hidden. For over 40 years The Dana Gallery has presented challenging exhibits year in and year out with vastly different themes, ambitions, aesthetics, and participating artists. It is thanks to G.A. Scattergood’s vision and hard work that Dana founded and then maintained this thriving gallery program of exhibitions, lectures and visiting artist workshops.

According to G.A. Scattergood, “originally the goal of the gallery program was to give the visual arts a prominent and interactive role within the school, while creating ties with the community beyond the school. The gallery provided an educational resource for the school community by introducing a variety of visual means of expression and communication.” The gallery provides a showcase for the artwork of our students, our faculty, parents and alumnae as well as introducing the work of both emerging and established professional artists. These artists provide strong role models for our students especially with G.A. Scattergood’s legacy of placing a special emphasis on exhibiting the art of women artists and feminist themes.

Scattergood not only organized artist lectures and gallery chats but also invited exhibiting artists to offer workshops to students in their area of expertise.

Just as a librarian makes her mark on the collection of an institution’s holdings so does a curator leave a mark on the memories of all those who view the exhibits that they organize. Curatorship is an art as distinctive as mark-making itself. It is one more way to think about art, put art in new contexts and support the work of artists. An exhibit can be organized around a single idea, a single artist, an open question or an ideal. It can bring artwork together in one room that has never been in the same room together before. Even works by the same artist that are dispersed all over the country or world in various private collections may be brought together in a kind of reunion or conversation, and then dispersed again, perhaps never to be in the same room together again.

Why Curatorship Matters:G.A. Scattergood-Moore Makes His Mark as Curator and Gallery Director

Exhibits create conversations. Exhibits pose questions. Exhibits teach us how to look at a group of artworks that are carefully brought together for a reason. Exhibits help our students mediate the complex world that we live in. Exhibits bring us the work of artists who are using their art to do the mediating of that complex world. This is why temporary exhibits are so special. Presenting the work of artists centered around a theme can bring new ideas and approaches to art to the studio and the classroom.

Scattergood took that responsibility very seriously. Whenever new work was installed in the gallery Scatt was very aware that the public needed some guidance, but not hand holding; he would provide contextual information but not a didactic sermon. Viewers were encouraged to explore on their own, slow down and look, and make their own observations and conclusions. Viewers were encouraged to start their own conversations. Scatt recently told me he actually saw himself as a “conductor” more than a “curator” to emphasize the improvisation that happens between artworks and viewers when they are brought together. Thanks for conducting the gallery, Scatt, and for showing us how to bring people and art together.

Mary Ann McQuillan

The Dana Gallery under Scattergood’s direction was proud to highlight the work of Dana Alumnae on an annual basis. One-person alumna exhibits have included:

Asphodel Fields, paintings by Anne Leone ’77

A Look at Cuba, color photographs by Tria Giovan ’78

Spirit in Exile, an exhibition of black and white photographs of Tibetan women by Susan Lirakis Nicolay ’70.

Some of the many exhibits that Scattergood was particularly proud of include:

The photographs of Edouard Muybridge

The renowned quilter Radka Donnell, ‘P75

Circles of Power: Images of The Native American Spirit World by Roma Heilig Morris

African Tribal Art organized by Tim HamillSculpture and Drawings by Marty Cain

Ancient One: The Goddess in Art and Healing by Carole Fontaine and Fran Smyer

Works on Paper, a juried exhibit of members of the Boston Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art

Contemporary Women Quilters, an exhibit featuring the works of New England quilt makers

The Way Things Are: Drawings and Collage with a Scientific Bent, by Sue Simon

Students, Art, and Memory

Cenote Azul #7, 2015Acrylic on linen, 40” x 46”

Cenote Azul #3, 2014Acrylic on linen, 36” x 72”

Anne Leone, ‘77

As soon as I met Gene Scattergood-Moore, fondly known as “Scatt”, I knew he would be important to me. As a teacher, he was demanding and supportive. As an artist, his work is deeply personal and dynamic. As a person, he is impassioned, well informed, unique and full of good humor. When I was a young student in search of a place in this world, I was so lucky to have had Scatt as a mentor.

Studying art at Dana Hall was serious business. Drawing, Painting and Printmaking classes were taught at the college-level, and classes were invigorating. My forward progress could be easily mapped, and I took every art class I could. I went on to study at Scatt’s alma mater, Boston University, a preeminent school for painting the human figure at the time. I was incredibly well prepared for college. A few years later, I attended graduate school at the University of Cincinnati. I was amazed to find out that Scattergood-Moore had attended the same program and was awarded the same Fellowship. It was there that I began to love to teach, and I went on to become a Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

Since he and his young family lived on campus, I had the opportunity to get to know Scatt outside of the classroom. I remember having countless meals in the dining hall with them, going to cultural events and museums, watching their family grow, and having a lot of fun as well. It was such an opportunity to see the projects he was working on in his studio. He taught me to be serious about scholarship, but also to explore Boston’s art scene and to expose myself to all kinds of culture.

It is such a pleasure to participate in this exhibition honoring Gene Scattergood-Moore. A great teacher, he pushed his students to examine everything, in the classroom and out, and showed them that how they think and what they do in life matters. To be able to pay homage to this amazing teacher and artist is a real joy. I am forever grateful to him for not only demanding excellence from his students, but for being an example of excellence himself.

Anne Leone in her studio, 2016

Solstice 1 acrylic on panel 30” x 40” 2014

Meg Brown Payson, in her studio, 2016

Scatt taught me to draw.

I am an artist who enjoys experimenting with materials, formats, different tactile media as well as using art making to engage communities around larger social concerns. And I am forever grateful to Scatt for teaching me to draw from observation. That discipline of sitting and looking closely at something, knowing how to render it in space has helped me to focus and concentrate. Though I rarely use drawing from observation in my artwork today it is something I know I can do to focus my attention and find pleasure.

I remember once Scatt took my brush to show me how to make a crisp edge on a conch shell in a painting I was working on. It was like magic, so precise, and it brought the whole form into focus. It wasn’t until years later that I realized the power of a crisp edge to create space and form and was able to include that edge in my work.

Scatt also introduced me to the work of Kathë Kollowitz. Thanks to Scatt’s encouragement, I bought my first print (a restrike) at a print fair at Dana my Junior year. It was a self portrait etching. What I love most about her work is the power of her charcoal drawings, the facility and economy of her expressive marks and the emotional content of her work. Recently my son wrote an analysis of one of her woodblocks for a museum studies course. He remembered my showing him a book of Kollowitz drawings his sophomore year in high school.

Scatt could see things in my work that I couldn’t see. I remember him getting very excited about a still life painting I did Sophomore year. I focused on the lower portion of a rocking chair with a pale yellow pillow on the seat. I was struggling to figure out how to get the correct angles for the turned wooden legs. My tentativeness showed in the thinness of the paint. But Scatt saw that compositionally the painting directed the viewer’s eye in through the tunnel-like space of the chair legs and then popped them out through the inflated form of the pillow. He remarked that it was unusual to make the eye move around a painting in that way. It wasn’t until much later

Holly Ewald ‘72

Gallery Installation

Holly Ewald in her studio, Photo by Mary Beth Meehan

that I understood what he meant, but at the time I was pleased that he got so excited and had found something interesting in my work. Today, as I look at my son’s artwork I see things in his work that he can’t see yet. I find myself getting excited, a lot like Scatt .

Coming to Dana as a sophomore I was pretty unsure of myself; being a shy person didn’t help. I have always had difficulty speaking up in large groups. At Dana I hung out a lot in the art studio. I was most comfortable there. Scatt helped me build self-confidence. He was the first adult who saw, understood and nurtured the artist in me. That first year he submitted my charcoal drawing of boxes to a high school art competition and it won an award. He helped me realize I had my own voice through drawing, painting and print-making. His example inspired me to in turn

to nurture art making in others, especially those whose voices are not usually heard.

This understanding has been fundamental to the art based community engaged work I began nearly 40 years ago. After graduating from University of Oregon with a BA in Art in 1977 I started an art program at a settlement house in Detroit providing my students a safe place to explore drawing, collage and photography in order to tell about their lives. Today I am the executive director of an arts based organization I founded that engages artists and communities in public art-making for the purpose of celebrating and building stewardship of our shared environment. Thanks Scatt for getting me on my path.

Reflection, 2015

Woman Selling-Havana, Cuba 1994 Fan Memorial, Ciego de Avila, Cuba

Para Todos-Vibora, Cuba_1994

While it seems like an eternity ago, it also feels like yesterday when I recall silk-screening classes with Scatt. He was encouraging, mellow, and supportive-it was truly fun. Even though print-making did not become my medium of choice, there were valuable lessons learned that I have carried with me into my photography career. The introduction to color use, composition and technical aspects of the craft are all-important to any artist, but it was the excitement of creating and the satisfaction of completing a work that I remember most. He got me hooked on those feelings, and gave me the freedom to follow my creative impulses. I feel very fortunate to have had his influence and guidance at such a young age.

Tria Giovan ‘78

Tria Giovan, on location in Cuba

Posters-Cienfuegos, Cuba, 1993

When I look back on my career in pedagogy and the arts, I can pinpoint where it all started. It was in my high school art room where I had taken the most important class of my career, and there, where I was forever inspired by my art teacher Gene Scattergood.

Scatt pushed me to see and think.

Challenging me to create something unexpected, unusual, and quirky. Encouraging me to take risks in my work, to be brave and explore. He taught me to think for myself, push my limits, to be curious and to learn from failure. He taught me to have pride in taking chances. I gained confidence in that class. I learned that I could, that what I thought mattered, that I counted, that I had something uniquely mine to share. I learned how to problem-solve, seeing

the relevance in these skills not just in the studio, but also in my everyday life. I learned success because he would accept no less; his belief in me propelling me over any hurdles. Scatt imparted in me a passion for the process that still drives my studio practice today. All the questions that I ask myself now stem from my approach I learned then.

As a teacher, I aspire to imbue in

my students the passion and curiosity that Scatt instilled in me. I wonder if my students think as I thought back then, “if only I can get that right…”. I wonder if my students accidentally skip meetings, losing all sense of time because they were so immersed in the process. I wonder if my students look forward to their studio classes and dread them all at the same time, feeling that the moment that

Trina Baker ‘85 What Big Teeth You Have

something starts to make sense the stakes get raised. I wonder if my students meet during their free blocks to work on their pieces, united in their silence and effort, only slightly conscious that in any other context they probably would not have made friends. In my time at Dana we were a motley bunch, the punk rocker, the hippie, the jock, the preppie and the trendy girl, all unaware of our differences while we made art, united by our teacher, Scatt.

Although my interests and mediums have changed over the years, my passion for the arts and for teaching has never wavered. It was in Gene Scattergood’s classes where my studio practice and pedagogical pursuits were defined. I am forever grateful to him for setting me on this path.

Still from animation project, Every Two Minutes

One day, Gene Scattergood leaned down over a tiny, hesitant drawing I was doing, and said, “I’m going to give you a big wall, and a bucket of paint, and see what you can do!”

I was tight, a typical terrified teenager, who had just discovered, because of Scatt’s encouragement, my ability to see and to draw. I looked up at him and smiled...tentatively. I had been, by that time, a dedicated third-year student of his pioneering art classes, which introduced students to an amazing array of media, from silverpoint, to egg tempera (I’ve since then been able to separate eggs in my hands with aplomb, much to my friends’ amazement), to pastels, to—well—everything.

Though I never did hurl a bucket of paint at a wall, he kept prodding me, giving me opportunities to push my art and confidence beyond boundaries I could not then imagine. A college-level art class at BU. A Boston Globe Golden Key award. A national scholastic art award. A commission for pen-and-inks of Dana buildings that, I think, are still used. A two-woman show at Dana, with Elise Brewster ‘80. And so much more.

Since then, his words continue to echo in my brain, although I imagine he looks at the tiny, tight, very exacting scientific illustrations that decorate these books on display, and he shakes his head.

Okay, he may think I never really broke beyond those boundaries I set for myself (although I’m an accomplished house painter!), but I still marvel at how useful drawings, and other artwork can be. And I continue to explore. As I write this, I’m working on a commission for a painting of variegated leaves, scientific illustrations for a forthcoming book on grasses by a professor at Penn State, permanent glyphs that will grace a new “Living Building Challenge” building for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, and more. All this in addition to my “day job” as Senior Research Ecologist at New England Wild Flower Society, an organization I love.

Elizabeth Farnsworth ‘80

Clockwise from top: Pastel Brook, Xysticus, Iris,

Medicago-arabisans

How great is it to do a job for people and organizations you love every day? I know that Scatt knew that joy, and he conveyed it to his students every day.

Scatt gave me this: a visual curiosity about the world, and the confidence and passion to explore it with an artist’s eye.

I came to Dana Hall as a sophomore in 1970. I had been studying art since age 8 during the summers and intermittently during grade school and junior high, but it wasn’t until Dana and Gene Scattergood that I really got immersed. I hadn’t had any proper drawing training, (all painting up until then), and it was Scattergood who brought everything into focus, and gave me confidence. In particular he made me aware of gesture drawing, the contour, and negative space. I specifically remember him saying “Don’t erase your mistakes…. leave the lines there so you won’t keep

making the same mistake over.” It taught me about reference. It taught me to not be so hard on myself. I became particularly obsessed with contour drawing and spent my three years refining my technique and style with his coaching and support. The students modeled, (no nudity!) and we did the quick 2-minute, 5-minute drawings and then for 20-30 minutes.

The studio was a sanctuary, the classes created a rhythm to the week and the smell of the paint and turpentine, even charcoal and pencils remain soothing and evocative.

Lisa Maxwell ‘73

Scatt was patient, inspiring, encouraging and always available. I did the Independent Studies program as a senior (it was introduced one year earlier) and worked at The Boston Center for the Arts for a silkscreen artist. I had started to expand into an interest in graphic design. I am sure Scatt influenced that. From there I went to an independent private college in Italy, and then to Parsons School of Design. Though not required, I continued figure drawing all through college because I loved it so much. My best drawings were done during that period.

I went on to a career as an advertising art director, and graphic designer, and was a completely removed from fine art. I had to draw all my own layouts and storyboards, but had to learn a kind of shorthand style for speed and efficiency. I know my classical training helped a lot.

I started drawing again just for fun about ten years ago, at the sketch night at NY Society of Illustrators. I’m a little rusty, but Scatt is always there with me looking over my shoulder, reminding me not to erase my mistakes, but to use them to my advantage. Good advice.

Class drawing exercises and projects; clockwise from top left: Self-portrait, shadow drawing, figure study, contour drawing

Traveling and drawing in Italy, 1974

Scatt had little room for adolescent girl drama. He laughed at ridiculousness when it entered his realm and enjoyed how eccentric he was in the eyes of Dana’s community. Around him I grew proud of being different. His art room was my safe haven, the place I spent all of my free time.

After a complicated knee surgery and the deaths of five family members and my dog, Scatt understood that there were things inside of me that needed to come out. He taught me to draw. I’m not just talking about marks and structure and form. I’m talking about loosing oneself in the scratching of charcoal, in a vast and satisfying search, in the act of looking

so intently that you could loose and find yourself over and over again. His encouragement was visceral. He’d stand there and look at a drawing, smiling to himself and saying something understated like “yeah.” That “yeah” was powerful fuel to keep searching, to keep refining the shadows and lines, and believing that I could get it right.

The relationship I formed with art (under Scatt’s guidance) during that painful year is what made me an artist. Now, I often teach, and look to my memories of Scatt as a lesson in empathy. I respond to students’ pain with compassion and art supplies, knowing art’s power far surpasses words.

Emily Schiffer ‘99

Works from the Cheyenne River Reservation Series, South Dakota

Lola and me

Clockwise from above: Thought Lines, Swing, Untitled

At Dana, I lived for my time in Scatt’s half of the studio—it was a haven. He trod a line so delicate: he was rigorous with us yet allowed us to develop along a trajectory of our own choosing. Nothing mattered; not if we used an easel or a board on a table, if we drew from the image clippings in his filing cabinet, spent our time outside among the trees, or creating little still lives. Everything went, so long as it was observed and handled with thoroughness.

Once when I was new, I made a contour drawing with a three-fingered hand—just once. He looked at it, frowned, looked at me and firmly impressed upon me the difference between looking and seeing: observation should be something intellectual. The mind needed to look without preconceptions but not without thought. Observing patterns,

understanding illusion, looking for the moments that revealed something’s place in time as well as space, all of this came from using observation in complement with and as a challenge to thinking. And he helped us to see how the fixations manifested in the work of artists through history were communications of something essential they had been awed, delighted or mystified by.

Scatt praised me only once, at graduation, but he made me feel respected as an individual creator at all times. It was only later, when I entered other classes and met other teachers who tried to teach their pupils to emulate their own process or vision, that I realized just how rare Scatt was. I still hear his voice in my head when I draw.

Kate Aspinall ‘01

Scatt was the teacher I was the closest with by the end of my time at Dana. I would spend most of my free-periods and even drive in on weekends to the art studio and paint. During the school week Scatt would often stand behind me and guide my work while also telling me old stories of teaching at Dana Hall. As history is another passion of mine, I greatly enjoyed his quirky stories of life at Dana in the past. I look back to those days with a smile. I will forever be grateful to have had a teacher like him.

Christa Waegemann ‘02

I took every art class I could (many with Scatt) when at Dana Hall 1975-1979. I then went on to four years of art school in Phila-delphia and one and a half years in Tianjin, China. Now I am a teacher and artist. I ap-preciate having had wonderful teachers like Gene Scattergood! He has inspired me in my life as a teacher and artist.

Kathy Lobo ‘79

I learned a tremendous amount in Scatt’s art classes (especially Printmaking). My thanks to him for teaching me the basic principles and elements of design. I so appreciate his continued encouragement.

Leslie (Bragdon) Vieth ‘73

This is a great idea! I loved all my art classes with Mr. Scattergood.

Rachel Bebchick Naggar ‘92

I attended Dana Hall from 1979-1984 as a boarding student, coming from a fairly dysfunctional home with 8 siblings. Immersed as I was with art as a child (I think it was my escape from the household chaos), I took many art classes when I got to Dana Hall. They were taught either by Gene or his wife at the time. I took drawing, painting, and silk-screening with Scatt. Not only did I learn how to draw portraits, to stretch canvas, silk-screen t-shirts, mix oil and encaustic paints, I learned how to live in this world in my own unique way. I still reminisce and feel deep kinship as I recall the way in which I felt mentored and supported by Scatt during my years at Dana Hall. I eventually asked him to become my advisor.

Not only did Scatt inspire me, he inspired many of our classmates to follow their artistic yearnings, and ultimately -- follow their own unique callings in life. Many of us are still actively involved in making art. Today, I paint and work in the architecture field as well.

While at Dana, it was clear to me and to his students that Scatt was a passionate and dedicated teacher. Dana Hall was lucky to have him as a part of their staff. I recall getting to school after report cards were due and Scatt telling me how he had fallen asleep on the typewriter writing them up the night before. After extremely well-crafted foundation classes were taught by Scatt, many of the advanced students were involved in unique and personal art projects. Scatt had us doing things such as drawing pipes under the building, he inspired some of us to go to drawing groups in Boston, he put on thoughtfully curated shows in the Dana Art Gallery, and he helped us create professional portfolios for school admissions.

I still to this day recall the snapdragon flowers and art postcard he brought to my graduation and the Scout car he offered I drive to Colorado since he no longer needed it. He went way above and beyond what most teachers would give to a “job”; he really put his heart and soul into it. Scatt has inspired not only me, but an entire community of girls that have attended Dana Hall for decades.

Jennifer Foxley ‘84

Gene Scattergood-Moore’s skill as an artist and teacher had a significant impact on me. I did not see myself as an artist at the time, but Gene encouraged my creative efforts and inspired me to begin seeing in a new way. His support of my work planted a seed which eventually grew to a mid-life ca-reer change from that of nurse practitioner to professional artist. The genuine respect he had for his students was palpable and his ready humor was a great comfort.

Clearing, oil on canvas, 2014, 28” x 54”

Laura Ellis ‘75

I studied under Scatt in the early 80s. Pictured is an example of a drawing from classes with Scatt. He was an amazing teacher, highly influential without being overbearing. He knew how to push and encourage without being abrasive.

Lisa Lagatta ‘85

Back in 1968, when I came to Dana Hall as a freshman from Florida, I already had an intense love of art. I soon made my way up to the studio on the second floor of the classroom building. Gene Scattergood, or Scatt, as everyone called him, was a superb teacher. He also became my advisor. Although I have never discussed this with him, I can say with absolute certainty that he was extremely careful to encourage all of his students to explore and engage in whatever directions interested them. He allowed his students to develop free from his own personal biases and fostered a sense of real creative freedom and acceptance for all of his students. The start I got with thanks to Scatt eventually became a lifetime spent in pursuit of artistic self-expression.

Helen Morse ‘72

Mr. Scattergood was the best art teacher I ever had! I am still drawing on the skills he taught me 45 years ago.

Victoria (Tory) Jackson, ‘71

Nelson with Tulips 1995 Hand-painted photograph

Gene and his wife Phyllis were highly influential in my life. I came to Dana Hall on scholarship in 9th grade and had never had anyone tell me to take my art seriously before. I am from a family of artists so it was easy to be overshadowed and not consider my skills as being of any consequence. It was from Gene Scattergood that I really learned how to take marks on paper and turn them into form. We were encouraged to “draw from life” using each other as models and we were shown the basic concepts of drawing, positive and negative space, shading, contour and on and on, which I still use today and have taught to others. Gene Scattergood leaves a worthwhile legacy.

Mia de Bethune ‘77

Bedtime Story 2016, Pastel 24 x 30

Rhys Hackford ‘06The year that Scatt retired, 2006, also

happened to be my senior year. Three of my classmates and I were all taking AP Studio Art with Scatt. He affectionately christened us “The Gang of Four.” Before graduation we had T-shirts printed with Scatt’s face portrayed in the iconic style of the Che Guevara “Guerrillero Heroico” portrait as it was re-worked by Jim Fitzpatrick in 1967.

From left to right is Allison Griffin, Nadine Dodge, Annie Yonkers and myself (Rhys Hackford) all seniors from the class of 2006. It was our cheeky tribute to a man who inspired and nurtured our rebellious streak; a mini-revolution taking place in Wellesley.

Self-Portrait with Apple

Gene Scattergood was my art teacher and adviser forty-four years ago. In 1972 I was part an experiment for seniors called the “Pilot Program”. There were about ten of us and we were asked to put together a work-study program of our own making. Our only requirement, English was taught to us in the evenings by our house father.

Deborah Adams, ‘72 and myself were

completely focused on art: I on painting and print-making and she on sculpture and painting. Mr. Scattergood allowed us to take over the basement of one of the class buildings to use as a studio. He would meet with us periodically and I don’t really know if there was any formality to it (i.e. it wasn’t a class.) But he would wander down and give us guidance and advice as needed; mostly he left us alone which I think he understood as key to the experience we were having.

This opportunity allowed me to break out of the classroom environment and to pursue art without feeling like I had to please anyone other than myself. What I am grateful for was having that chance to flail around on my own. Mr. Scattergood

understood this; there was encouragement balanced with critical feedback that felt honest. He talked to me as an artist and not as a student.

My path after Dana Hall was not typical and I attribute that to that program and Mr. Scattergood’s wise presence. I ended up, after a bit of searching, going for a short time to an art school in Seattle and then moving on to set up my own studio. I pursued my career there and then later in Los Angeles. By my mid-thirty’s the art career part was taking a toll and I opted to start my own landscape design/build company. I have retired from that and am now painting again; just for myself.

I will always be grateful to Mr. Scattergood for his generosity, humor and lack of pretense.

Barry Campion ‘72

Laurie Switzer ‘87

Betsy Sibley ‘71

I attended Dana Hall between 1972-1975, and enjoyed art classes with Mr. Scattergood. His airy studio, combined with Gene’s easy-going manner, created a welcoming, relaxing atmosphere. His critique, however, was never vague or overly complimentary just because we had young sensitive feelings. His instruction was thoughtful and direct. I ended up, years later, graduating from Massachusetts College of Art, with distinction, earning dual degrees in painting and art history. I owe Gene Scattergood my continuing gratitude for his part in building the solid foundation that enabled that, one of my life’s proudest achievements. And for being a nice guy.

Sandy Wood-Prince Collins ‘75I was a pretty quiet, shy, beginning art

student when I had Mr. Scattergood, but I remember most his smile and his quiet support of my introduction to Studio Art.

Poem, Mixed media fiberarts

Here is one of of my “expressions” of my gratitude to you—and the art faculty at Dana—for giving me the skills and nurturing a core passion in me to communicate what I “see” to others. Without you, I would not know how to translate the light, the color, the shape, the spirit…of my singular impressions onto a canvas allowing me to share my world view. Equally important, you offered me an understanding of the full value of such a unique gift—and to do it!

Deborah Babson ‘74

I would love to say a few words about my memories of Gene Scattergood’s art classes! I took many of his classes and to this day, I think of what he taught us about art. I still love to paint and draw and his exercises of drawing something upside down, and under a time limit is still a good exercise I use. There are other memories-- of the Gallery Exhibitions we had as seniors with refreshments and invitations to the student body, portraits of classmates using acrylics, stretching canvas tightly across wooden frames we put together...I loved it all, and the help and guidance from Mr. Scattergood stays with me, after 40 years!

Susan Foster (Wilson) ‘73

Lisa Kimberly Glickman ‘77

Sarah and her Monarchs, Acrylic on canvas, 30” x 40”

All I can say is that Mr. Scattergood had a really big impact on my life. I spent a lot of my time at Dana in the art room. I realize now how lucky I was to have access to such a great art making space and great art teachers who truly cared about me. I think back and can honestly say that I started oil painting when I was 13!! Not many people can say that!

I am an art teacher in Boston Public Schools and my efforts to work with children in some of the toughest schools has always been colored by how the arts had helped me in my own life and how the caring guidance of Mr. Scattergood impacted my life and career choice.

Had it not been for “Scatt” I would not have had all high school my artwork photographed and a strong enough portfolio to get into Rhode Island School of Design! And although I do not make a living through my own art, painting and creating is still a very big part of my life! A few years ago Mr. Scattergood came to see me Jamaica Plain Open Studios! That was a really nice day for me!

Sally Wattles ‘82

While I did not have the good fortune to study with Gene Scattergood while at Dana, which I regret, I was aware of his power as a teacher and artist. (Maybe I was even intimidated and did not have the confidence at the time to seek this out.) My impression was that he taught through his commitment to his own art; the artist then becomes not only a vehicle for his art but part of his own portfolio. To have enriched the lives of student colleagues, young women in the early ‘’70’s, to believe in their own inner images and cultivation of modes of expression was, it seems to be, a supremely valuable gift for all concerned. What a good call on Dana’s part.

I have now myself worked for many years as an educator in international schools, and now am a psychoanalyst (Jungian) and therapist, two modalities through which my sense of the importance of Gene’s gifts exponentially multiplies.

Thank you to the Dana Hall Gallery for identifying and creating this opportunity to celebrate Mr. Scattergood for his years of dedication, to himself, his muses, his subjects, and to his students. May he and all who have studied with him find responsible ways to share their visions.

Jennifer Clark ‘71

Margot Estabrook Stienstra ‘73

Flowers for Gerda by Leslie (Bragdon) Vieth quilt

Scatt, I never studied with you, and I have long regretted that long-ago decision! I’ve since become a graphic designer and painter (Cranbrook Academy of Art MFA, Vassar College BA), and I recall how devoted Lisa Courtney, ‘71 was in your teaching studio. You were and are a treasure to our school. Thank you for all that you’ve contributed.

Hilary King Pulitzer ‘69 I remember Mr Scattergood well from 48 years ago. He encouraged me in art with his great humor and gentle guidance.

Untitled Seascape

Mr Scattergood was a teacher who was always supportive, opened minded and always kind. My experience in the DH art program resulted in my going on to University of Colorado and receiving a BFA in Ceramics and Painting

Holly Harnischfeger ‘73 Sarah Rodman ‘70

Gene Scattergood was my art teacher during 1969-1970, my one year (as a senior) at Dana Hall. In my mind’s eye, I recall one of the pictures I painted that year in the fine light filling the second floor art studio, as it does still today.

I came back to Dana more than thirty

years later when my daughter, Summer Sterling ‘06 began her sophomore year as a boarding student from Maryland, where we had settled some time before. Imagine my delight to come upon Scatt in the second floor studio! Our conversation picked up where it had left off decades before.

One thing led to another and we conjured up a bit of magic together: Scatt and I curated an alumnae art show in 2005 featuring art work from members of my class, 1970. The experience proved to be a uniting force for all of us. We had graduated from Dana and stepped into a tumultuous era. Our art show provided a platform to share where we are at now while remembering where we had been. The show went well and our class has organized two subsequent exhibitions, in 2010 and 2015.

The Spirit of Scatt survives. We may grow old but art makes our spirits ageless. Art is continuum of the creative force. Thank you for sharing your soul and helping bring countless girls to see the light.

When Women Were Birds Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas 36” by 48”

The things I learned from the Scatt... he is still a mentor for me every day. Well, the list goes on and on but here is the big one:

Live your life fully as an artist. Embody every moment with your full creative self. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to capture an inspired blessing of the universe. Do it even if it’s hard work, even if it’s half a credit instead of a full credit (something I still don’t understand), even if no one will ever see it or notice.

For living your life as a practicing artist as Scatt did and does, is your greatest public work and will often be met with obstacles that can only inform your work.

Scatt’s presence was and is always holding a creative consciousness and center to all the chaos that swirls around us as we try to find meaning and to love one another. This consciousness is more necessary and important than ever in facing the challenges before us-especially climate change.

If you think about it his name is profound. Scattergood: scatter the good. And he did that in every way. I would not be where I am today without him. My core practice of drawing is fully instilled by his invaluable teachings. I draw so I can be present more fully with my world and from there, everything emerges. I am forever grateful.

Elise Brewster ‘80

Sanctuary

It was my sanctuary.There I was most wholewith soul flowing to beautythrough my hands.Free for a whilefrom the struggleto hold the pieces of me together.Memories filter through timelike sunlight through morning mist:Space and light;Easels standing about;Brown corduroy pants;A friend — I don’t remember her name.We shared art,a trustworthy bond.And learned to see betterAs you encouraged and guided our art to life.I loved being there.Being meMaking art.Good art, too.You held that space with grace.I remember.

Kathy Whitham ‘72

Painting of Child Oil on Canvas

Notes, Sketches, Odds and Ends

SCATT: Teacher, Artist, CuratorWork by G.A. Sca� ergood-Moore and his former Dana Hall students