Knowledge Friday With Peter Solow

The Church’s next event in its Knowledge Friday series will be a conversation between artist and art teacher Peter Solow and The Church co-founder April Gornik. The talk will take place Friday, June 17, at 6 p.m.

For 21 years Solow taught at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, where he represented opportunity and inspiration for all his students. Solow, who retires at the end of this school year, has taught a range of subjects, from middle school to advanced art classes, International Baccalaureate Program’s Theory of Knowledge class, to journalism and cultural history. In addition, Solow is the coordinator of the Donald Reutershan Educational Trust created to enhance art and architecture education for the students at the Sag Harbor public schools. He has also organized a series of student trips to Italy, Spain, and Cuba for cultural enrichment.

A graduate of Cooper Union and Goddard College, his work is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of American Art — The Smithsonian Institute, The Dallas Museum, The Newark Museum and The Harn Museum in Gainesville Florida. Solow is best known for his oil paintings and drawings. More recently he has been experimenting with mixed medium composites integrating painting, drawing, photography, and digital technology.

Solow’s impact on the school, its students, and the community is indelible. During his Knowledge Friday, he will talk about his own art practice, his work with students, and the importance of art as a fundamental uniter of people and a generator for the best in all of us.

John Russell, covering Solow’s work in The New York Times stated, “Human destiny is Mr. Solow’s subject, whether it is treated as Ingmar Bergman treats it (in terms of private involvement, that is to say) or in terms of huge predicament that has not yet defined itself. Either way, and whether on a seashore or in an unnamed metropolis, Mr. Solow holds our attention.”

“John Russell stated that human destiny is Peter Solow’s subject in his artwork,” said Gornik, “and we want to celebrate not only his art, but also the improved destinies of so many students whose young lives have been transformed and inspired by Peter’s incredibly gifted and generous communication with them.”

Tickets for Knowledge Fridays are $15. The Church is at 48 Madison Street in Sag Harbor. For more information visit thechurchsagharbor.org.