McDevitt
and PAFA: Artful alliance
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Art students at Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote
are, both literally and figuratively, “drawn” to classes at
the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) Museum and School in
Center City.
“I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil in my hand,”
said Ryan Mohl, a McDevitt senior who plans to major in graphic design
next year at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art.
Thanks to an arrangement facilitated by Timothy P. Speiss, a 1979 McDevitt
alumnus, Mohl and his McDevitt peers can mold their art aspirations through
free weekly classes after school hours at the Academy.
“The biggest reward definitely is the end result of all my pieces,”
and of being able to claim, “I did that,” Mohl said.
“I love my classes,” said Samantha Miller, a McDevitt junior
who also wants to pursue studies in graphic design.
When she learned the after-school class at the Academy is equivalent
to a college art course, Miller said, she realized that “I’ll
get a lot of good portfolio pieces from this.” So far, that portfolio
includes oil paintings and charcoal drawings.
James Mueller, a 2007 McDevitt alumnus and a product of the same art program,
is now majoring in sculpture at the Academy, which is at 128 N. Broad
St.
Mueller credits the program for influencing his college choice, and for
the headstart it gave him before he arrived at the Academy. “It
definitely helped to get ready … and to get in,” he said.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s refreshing work,”
Mueller added of his current class load, which includes sculpting with
plaster, clay and wire.
Last month, in conjunction with McDevitt’s yearlong 50th jubilee
celebration, Mohl, Miller and Mueller attended a private gallery tour
of the Academy’s Cecilia Beaux exhibition, which runs through April
13.
The host of the Feb. 7 tour — held primarily for McDevitt’s
major benefactors — was Speiss, who is chair of McDevitt’s
president’s advisory board, a board member of the Academy and a
lead cosponsor of the Cecilia Beaux exhibit.
Beaux, who was born in Philadelphia in 1855, was renowned for her figure
paintings and portraits, and for her sensitive and insightful depictions
of children and high society. She was the first woman appointed to the
Academy’s faculty.
“I really liked it,” Miller said of the Beaux exhibit. “She
was a painter who wasn’t typical of her time — women weren’t
usually respected for being artists.”
One of Miller’s favorite pieces in the exhibit is a striking oil
on canvas featuring a little girl in a formal dress holding the hand of
her nurse, who is deliberately obscured. “It was kind of a cool
setup,” Miller said.
Al Gury, a member of Old St. Joseph’s Parish in Philadelphia, is
chair of the painting department at the Academy, and coordinator of its
after-school art program.
Prior to McDevitt’s private gallery tour, Gury applauded McDevitt’s
art program. He described St. Joseph Sister Mary Boyer, who chairs McDevitt’s
art department, as an integral part of the Academy’s after-school
project.
Gury said McDevitt is one school of around 50 local parochial, public
and charter schools participating in the after-school program for high
school students, which began 15 years ago with students from Roman Catholic
High School for Boys in Philadelphia.
The after-school program provides fledgling art students a “once-in-lifetime
experience,” Speiss said. And for some, like Mueller, the sessions
prove to be a significant impetus for further studies at the Academy.
“There’s no place like it,” Speiss said.
For more information, call PAFA at (215) 972-7600 or visit the Web site
www.pafa.edu.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.