The mystery of KO art revealed

Arts

As you walk around KO, you can notice many unique and fascinating art pieces. Walking up or down the stairs of Seaverns, you can notice the metal Wyvern sculpture. Or walking around Roberts, you can notice intriguing paintings of certain individuals as well as many wooden plaques.

Walking into Roberts Theater, you can see the paintings of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, who were trustees of KO. This used to be a larger painting, but was later separated into two paintings, said History teacher Scott Dunbar. If you look to your left, you’ll see a very unique and colorful painting. By examining closely you can see that there is a little plaque underneath it. The plaque states that the painting was a gift from the Class of 2014 in memory of long time art teacher Patricia Rosoff.  As you walk up the stairs to the second floor of Roberts, there are even more masterpieces to observe.

You can notice framed photographs of retired faculty members, the most recent one being that of retired English teacher Meg Kasprak who left KO last spring. These picture frames continue all the way down the either sides of the hallways. If you continue to walk down the hallway, you can observe the names of faculty members then notice a large painting of a man wearing a blue shirt. Many students pass by this painting everyday without knowing who the painting is of. If you look to the left of the painting, there is a framed photo of the man himself. The painting is of retired KO teacher, Richard M. Caley, who taught at KO from 1970 – 2007.

Further down the hallway, you will see another painting of a man, this time wearing a yellow shirt. As you noticed with the previous painting, if you look to the left of the painting and you can observe the faculty member’s name. Thus, you know that this painting is of former teacher Joel Lorden, who taught at KO from 1961-2003.

The wooden plaques or shields in Roberts are dedicated to the graduating class of that year. Each spring, the seniors who are graduating that year, carve their initials into the shields dedicated to their class. This is an old tradition at KO and is still being continued. If you observe the dates on the plaques, the earliest one present is from the class of 1922, and the most recent ones are the two plaques for the class of 2018.

Furthermore, in front of Seaverns, there is a metallic sculpture of the Wyvern. Mr. Dunbar said that the sculpture was made for KO in Farmington and was bought by the class of 1989 as a gift for the school. Now, when you walk around the school and notice some of the great art pieces, you will know their meanings.

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