Lower and Middle School teacher Bridget Bailey's oil self-portraits and clay moldings will remain on display through the end of the school year.
by Delia Seigenthaler, visual arts teacher
The Visual Arts Department is excited to present the work of Bridget Bailey in the Tibbott Center Gallery opening May 2.
Bailey was born and raised in Nashville, and earned her bachelor of arts at the University of Virginia in biology and art, with a concentration in painting and a minor in art history. She has been working at USN since 2016 in the green door kindergarten classroom as Karri Leslie's teaching assistant, supervising Lower School students in After-School, and teaching seventh and eighth-grade ceramics.
Meanwhile, she has been making art, primarily in her kitchen. She has been accepted to the graduate school at Boston University and will earn her master of fine arts in painting in the fall.
"My work is and has always been about the act of painting, the visceral qualities of oil paint and its relationship to the body. I have also been making things out of clay because, for me, clay is very much related to painting,” Bailey said. “I am interested in the exchange between the material, its fluidity, and myself. I am inspired by playdough used in the kindergarten and my own lifelong fondness for modeling clay, its eternal squish. The canvases are self-portraits and as I look in the mirror to paint, I draw from my familiarity with my own socks and knees to sculpt, but they are also odes to the slipperiness of paint and of clay, odes to bodies--alone and together, to casual clothes, and to play."
Please join us for an opening reception to celebrate "Soapy Girl" from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2. The exhibit will be on display through Wednesday, May 29.
The girls lacrosse team ended its season in overtime to become state runner-up. Tennis players Carter Kojetin '29 finished as a state quarterfinalist, Sophie Oliver '26 and Mary Kate Adler '28 finished as state semifinalists, and Veer Kodali '29 and Max Parker '29 finished as state champions. Meanwhile, eight runners competed at the state track and field meet in Knoxville, where Griffin Davidson '27, Caleb Freifeld '28, Drew Zwerner '28, and Jack Fruin '27, sprinted to first in the 4x800m relay and Jack also placed first in the 800m dash.
For the entire USN community: an invitation to give in gratitude, in celebration, and in honor of the woman who has given so much to our school. Make a gift at usn.org/giving to support students with needs beyond tuition and honor Interim Director Juliet Douglas.
The Middle School Quiz Bowl finished off another successful season with a trip to the Middle School National Championship Tournament in Chicago. The team fought hard and ended the season as a top-100 program in the country, finishing 75th overall. Congratulations to the team on a great performance and to Lucas Lupu ’31, named an All Star for being the fifth-highest scorer nationwide.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.