We know that art education provides students with skills that benefit them in the art studio and beyond: creativity, focus, critique, planning, and much more. When students attend school surrounded by art, they learn to think artistically, and they develop an understanding that the role of the arts in our society is crucially important. This knowledge is vital to our students as they grow into the innovators and creators of tomorrow.
This is the impetus behind the McNeely Family Studio Residency, a program established in 2021 through the generosity of the McNeely family: Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose ‘19. The McNeelys are passionate about the arts in all of their forms, and this love for creative expression inspired them to endow a residency program that would attract established artists to be “embedded” in daily life at Sonoma Academy for an extended period of time.
The goal of the residency is to host working artists from around the country and the world who will work closely with our students, cultivating the next generation of talented artists and providing insight into what it means to pursue a career in visual art. Artists will give lectures, hold workshops, exhibit their own work, create community-based art projects, and meaningfully engage with students, parents, and staffulty.