Tucked away on the 2nd floor of the Smith Campus Center is the first exhibit of four in-person, diverse collections of multimedia artwork: the Harvard Staff Art Show. Close to 280 pieces from around 185 artists, all Harvard University staff members, were submitted to be displayed in person for this year’s four shows. The first show took place from March 11 to March 26 and offered Harvard staff an avenue to display their artistic talents, from oil paintings to knitted hats to woodwork clocks.
At the artists’ reception on Wednesday, March 20th, dozens of contributing artists came to grab snacks, converse with others, and admire art. Talking to three of the artists, learning their life goals, and understanding the connections between their day jobs and creative passions was an eye-opening reminder to take the time to learn about others in their entirety—their passions, dreams, and creative outlets.
You might find Edwin Hinspeter in the back of the Leverett kitchen sautéing vegetables or grilling chicken. He has mastered the art of simultaneously managing four boiling pots with ease. After I was blown away by The Case for Clocks, Hinspeter’s three-clock artwork at the Smith Center show, I sat down and conversed with him. His three clocks included three different kinds of wood: cherry, quarter-sawn white oak, and lastly, his personal favorite, maple, which makes up the tall, narrow coffin clock.
Hinspeter’s same hands that cook for Leverett students each day also work hard at home, crafting wood and stitching leather when given the chance. Before culinary school, Hinspeter attended North Bennet Street School in Boston to learn woodworking. Despite currently working in the art of cooking, he still returns to the art of woodworking whenever possible. Hinspeter spends his summers and many late evenings in his workshop, a place he describes as a respite after a stressful or busy day. “I get lost in my work,” said Hinspeter, referring to his woodworking. Spending the academic year working at Harvard provides a great amount of flexibility for Hinspeter to immerse himself in his craft during his summers.
Before she recently left to work for Headspace, a company focused on improving mental health through both preventative practices and therapy, Marla Allisan served as a psychotherapist with CAMHS for almost seven years. I was taken by Allisan’s kind and welcoming presence when I saw her for the first time in person at the artists’ reception.
Allisan’s artwork, Figures in Flow, displays dark figures with outstretched limbs against vibrant, patterned backgrounds. In all her pieces, each figure’s position is inspired by three of the activities that guide her life—swimming, dancing, and meditating. “My figures tend to be in some form of movement, and thus, figures in flow,” explained Allisan. As for still figures portraying meditation: “That’s [just] a different kind of flow,” she said.
Allisan initially trained as a lawyer, and soon afterward, went back to school to get a degree in social work, finding it more rewarding to help others find their way. With a rich background in litigation, adoption work, and now psychotherapy, the connection between her daily work and her art is unique.
“When I’m drawing, I’m listening for a feeling…in my own body that I want to convey,” said Allisan. “As a lawyer, therapist, and sometimes writer, I’m just swirling in the world of words. The art that I do is wordless.” She explained her art-making not as something she does to pay the bills or to necessarily earn a commission but rather as a “kind of mental cleansing.”
Leon Welch, a soulful, kind-eyed Securitas guard at the Smith Center (with a whopping 33 years of Harvard-affiliated work experience) has a similar mentality regarding his art-making. Though he uses high-end, expensive materials such as cashmere and merino wool to make his intricate knitted hats, two of which were on display at the show, he never sells them for profit. Instead, he gives them away “[as] a way of saying thank you to people who have been kind to me,” such as waiters, family friends, and even students. His hats are highly intentional gifts, and Welch often caters his design choices to the eye or skin color of the hat’s recipient.
“If I’m going to be spending a lot of time with something, it needs to feel good on my hands,” said Welch. “So I give people what I would want for myself, which is something of very high quality.” He was introduced to knitting after his children, particularly his two sons, learned the skill in a middle school course. Soon afterward, they took a pair of needles and yarn with them everywhere. Welch was so taken with this craft that he mastered it and became a knitting instructor in the Center for Wellness and Health Promotion at Harvard for 10 years of his career.
Although Welch spends his weekend nights and a couple of late evenings at the Smith Center working for Securitas, most of his time is spent on his life coaching business, a passion he began pursuing early in his retirement, because he felt incredibly blessed. “When you hit your 60s…you say what am I going to do with this next phase of my life? Am I gonna sit back and collect a retirement check, or am I going to leave a significant impact in the world?” For Welch, there has to be some form of coaching through which he can “[encourage] people to actually go into the uncomfortable spaces.”
Welch’s outlook on life is one of gratefulness and kindness, and he hopes to help others see the world similarly. “I want to facilitate learning to help people become conscious of these things that are so simple, that are accessible to everybody. Everyone can be thankful, and if we can do that, we would be actually taking a step towards improving our own health.” His art fits in nicely with his life coaching work and his overall mentality. “I’m using my art to make someone happy, to give them a gift,” said Welch.
Welch believes that art’s role in society is greater than the piece of work itself; the regard for the artist holds a great (and in America, somewhat forgotten) importance. To Welch, art-making is about “letting [out] whatever is inside of you; that spiritual fitness inside of you has a way of being materialized into something almost tangible that people can see.” “Art is so powerful,” said Welch. “It goes to the core of who we are and causes things to emerge that actually make us feel good.”
Taking the time to talk with just three of the hundreds of contributing artists was a heartening experience. It served as a powerful reminder that there are dimensions to each person’s life beyond who they are at work. The Harvard Staff Art Show is a wonderful collection of the beauty that happens when these hidden dimensions manifest creatively.
The Harvard Staff Art Show will be open to the public at the Harvard Ed Portal Crossings Gallery from March 28 to May 16. The next shows will then be open to HUID holders only at the Countway Library from April 8 to July 8 and the Gutman Library from May 6 to June 10.
Gauri Sood ’26 (gaurisood@college.harvard.edu) urges you to go see the exhibition—you will not be disappointed.