Robin Hill

Professor of Art - UC Davis

Robin Hill was introduced to the Oxbow School by a friend whose fish-farmer husband once sold fish to an Oxbow board member. While mentoring a weary and disillusioned high school student, Robin decided to use the Oxbow application as a process of self-discovery for this young woman. The student was accepted and had a life-changing experience at the school. When Robin took her son Wheeler to Camille’s Final Project exhibition, he knew immediately that he wanted to attend. Today, he is a proud OS32 alum. Robin’s love and appreciation for the school is profound—Oxbow changed Robin's son’s life and was a pivotal moment in his growth as a person. He is currently a BFA student at Cal Arts. As a faculty member in the Art Studio Program in the Department of Art and Art History at UC Davis, Robin has a particular appreciation for the value of an arts education before and during college. When not teaching at Davis Robin spends her summers in Cape Breton. Whether on the East or West coast, Robin gardens, swims, collects rocks, and works in her studio. She joined the Oxbow Board of Trustees in 2016.

In the year leading up to Oxbow, I became obsessed with the program, I was entranced with reading testimonials and researching interdisciplinary learning styles. When I arrived at Oxbow I was never disappointed, despite my endless expectations. I will forever cherish the time I spent at Oxbow and the connections I made there. Through Oxbow I was able to hone into the ideas I was thinking about, to refine my artistic process and to see the world in a new light every day of my life. I'm not going to say that without Oxbow I wouldn't be the person I am today, but I will say that without Oxbow it would have taken me at least four years to become who I am after one Oxbow semester.

— Phoebe Dubisch, Fall 2018

Our daughter graduated summa cum laude from NYU with a double major in Studio Art and Art History. She is now working for Calvin Klein. She is contemplating getting a law degree and pursuing a career repatriating art objects. She still keeps in touch with several of her Oxbow classmates and they have regular reunions in Manhattan... I would say that Oxbow was the best semester that any of my four children spent in their cumulative 16 years of high school. Our daughter was the right kid, and for the right kid you do a wonderful job. You changed her life. Thank you.

— John Powley, Parent

Artistically, I learned a lot of new techniques and mediums while here. I had access to much more than before and I made the most of it. I tried everything I could and always talked to my teachers and peers about new ways I could make art. Every so often, I completely stepped out of my comfort zone. Experimenting with technique and testing my artistic boundaries has helped me realize how many paths I have to choose from in the art world and that makes me excited for the future.

— Macy Manning, Fall 2023

A School Like No Other