JEN
Around the Bend

Around the Bend - June 2019

06/20/19

Dear Oxbow Friends,

Following the remarkable leadership provided by Stephen Thomas for twenty years, it is my humble pleasure to bring another academic year to a successful close. Stephen has been a close friend and mentor for me throughout my tenure at Oxbow and I am indebted to him and the founders, the Mondavis and Ann Hatch, for bringing the vision for an arts-centric community into reality for motivated adolescents across the country. In honor of Stephen’s dedication to Oxbow, the “Stephen Thomas Scholarship Fund” was launched last year to support future students who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend. I am proud to announce that this scholarship fund is thriving today with record numbers of students receiving scholarship money. Please join me as we celebrate key highlights of the 2018-2019 year:

• We hosted two very strong semesters of students who were committed to making serious work, building a close-knit community, creating space for play, and engaging in introspective self-reflection;
• We welcomed stellar visiting artists for 10-day residencies—Rebecca Manson, James Sansing, Natan Daskal, Judith Belzer—who collaborated with Oxbow students to expand their artmaking in new and creative ways;
• We embarked on “Oxpedition” adventures into the sublime California landscape that included overnight camping at Salmon Creek Farm, the Headlands, the redwood coast, and the Pinnacles;
• We celebrated a beautiful Spring Benefit Dinner at Hudson Ranch, an online wine auction, BottleRock glamping experience, and Napa Makes event, all of which support financial aid for future Oxbow students;
• We engaged in a successful WASC accreditation review and site visit to set strategic goals to build the program around student centered learner outcomes for the next six years;
• We hired a new math teacher and a new English teacher, both of whom have been in the Oxbow family for years;
• We waved “bon voyage” to two faculty members to boldly travel aboard a tall ship on an international residency into the Arctic Circle with fellow scientists, artists, and educators;
• And finally, we just welcomed our first round of summer campers, an eager group who were seen making art within the first hours of arrival.

This has been a year of adventure!

As we turn towards the future, the Oxbow family will continue to make a lasting impact on young people. To demonstrate your support in a very tangible way, there’s still time to participate in Oxbow’s Annual Fund and/or the “Stephen Thomas Scholarship Fund” which you can learn more about here. Our fiscal year ends June 30. Every gift matters, no matter the size. I thank you in advance for your generosity and commitment to the school.

Warm regards,
Jennifer Jordan, Interim Head of School

At Oxbow, the eye and the hand are inseparable from the mind and because their peers are also artists, students adopt fresh attitudes toward their work.

— Charles Altieri, Rachel Anderson Stageberg Chair, Professor of English, University of California, Berkeley

Oxbow was, without a doubt, the best part of my high school experience. A year after leaving, and I still feel as though it were yesterday that I was sitting on the lawn, eating in the dining hall, and laughing with my friends in the studios.

— Julia Weir, Fall 2015

The art that goes on in most high schools is usually relatively skill-based. At Oxbow, there is more emphasis on looking and seeing and more critical thinking about what you are doing, the human connection, that personal element. Through art you can begin to understand yourself better. That may be the biggest eye-opener for students. It is almost a preview of college. Get out of the mechanical factory high school education and get into something open, new, and invigorating in a small environment.

— Bill Barrett, Former Oxbow Board Member, Former Executive Director of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD)

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