Quimby: Philippa Dyer
Philippa Dyer, our 2024 Quimby Fellowship awardee, attended a two-week workshop at Haystack with Christine Wong Yap titled “Textravanganza!”
After finishing up my third year teaching, my wonder going into my summer at Haystack through the Quimby fellowship was: now that I am settling into being a teacher, how do I create and connect as a student, and as an art maker? Who am I as a maker outside of the classroom?
My goal for Haystack was quite simply to be a student again, to learn new materials and processes that I can integrate into my own art making and curriculum so that I can develop my identity as an artist independent from my job AND expand my knowledge for my career.
I signed up for Textravanganza! A social practice and printmaking crash course with artist Christine Wong Yap. This class took place during session two—right after school was over! As an introvert, I was a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of having limited down time to recover from school, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much energy I was able to muster and how exciting it was to be learning alongside so many different people at Haystack. I also met several K-12 teachers from across the country and that was a very fun connection to make.
Our workshop focused on developing a social practice project and creating prints to give as gifts to our subjects. I focused my research on interviewing my elders about their experiences in high school and looking back on their teenage experience. I ended up using Merriam Webster’s “Time Travel” function to create “neo-neologisms” for my subjects that they got to co-construct with me as either an epitaph or a celebration of their adolescence.
It was a whirlwind session and I continue to be so grateful for this chance to explore my personal art making. I was very ecstatic to return home to my family (especially my very confused dog) and relax for the summer, but I’m still finding myself benefiting from this experience. I can see the Quimby would be great at any stage in your career, but I really encourage any early career teachers such as myself to apply!
