Congratulations to Wellesley’s Class of ’22 high school graduates

June 5, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The Wellesley High School Class of 2022 was rewarded with a break from the weather on Friday, June 3, for a fine evening to collect their well-earned diplomas.

whs class of 22 — Photo by Colby Stakun-Pickering

More: Wellesley High School Class of 2022—Prom

Separately, Dana Hall School celebrated its 141st commencement exercises on Saturday, May 28. The 76 members of the Class of 2022 pinned flower crowns in their hair, threw pennies into the Pond and entered the tent filled with faculty, friends and family.

Graduates included Wellesley residents Evelyn Booth, Charlotte Brown, Sarah Cole, Cameron Curtin, Halden Dyer, Anna Fattaey, Phoebe Frechette, Jenna London, Isabel Mone, Eleanor Redgate, Matilda Reinhardt, Emma Shaich, Mira Smith, Elsa Stanton, Annika Svedlund, and Sydney Weller.

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Dana Hall fashion show to highlight eco couture

April 21, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

Eco couture (sustainable clothing) designed by students from Dana Hall, Wellesley College, Babson College, and other local schools will be on the catwalk at Dana Hall School in Wellesley on April 23 at 7pm. Be inspired to look good, while being good to the planet.

Local artists and business owners will also discuss how they address climate change through their work.

Event details:
*April 23rd at 7-8:30pm (refreshments included)
*Waldo Auditorium, Dana Hall School, 45 Dana Rd, Wellesley
*This event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

Wellesley colleges and schools welcoming the public back with in-person arts events

March 8, 2022 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

After keeping campus buildings closed to visitors throughout the pandemic, area schools including Babson College and Wellesley College are welcoming the general public back to indoors in-person events.

Babson took the lead last month, opening up the Sorenson Center for a movie screening and other cultural offerings. Going forward, the four-year entrepreneurial school will present the family-friendly (PG-13) feature film, Jungle Cruise as part of their Screening Room Series on Wed., Mar. 23, at 6:30pm in the Carling-Sorenson Theater.

Inspired by Disneyland theme park ride, Jungle Cruise is set in the Amazon, where riverboat captain Frank Wolff encounters English researcher Dr. Lily Houghton, who looks to study a fabled tree with healing properties. As Frank and Lily navigate the risks of the rainforest, they cross a cohort of foes determined to use the tree for nefarious purposes.

Admission is free, but reservations are required. Masks are optional for fully vaccinated individuals. Visitors must be fully vaccinated, and proof must be uploaded during the reservation process.

Information about additional Babson campus events here.

Following suit, The Davis Museum at Wellesley College will reopen to the public on Tuesday, March 8 for the first time since the pandemic-related closure in March 2020.

Visitors are required to register in the Davis lobby, show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, and mask while in the galleries. Once that’s been taken care of, the art-loving public will once again have the opportunity to explore the encyclopedic permanent collections, as well as five new special exhibitions. The exhibitions feature photography documenting mass incarceration, Dutch and Flemish prints, early travel photography of Pompeii, an installation commissioned by the Davis by Komatsu Hiroko, and a video installation by Sondra Perry.

Upcoming events at The Davis include a Mar. 9, 1:30-3:30pm conversation with award-winning Prison Nation curator Nicole R. Fleetwood on mass incarceration, photography, and activism, and a Mindful Meditation event to take place in the galleries on Mar. 17. 11am-11:45 (a virtual option is also available).

The Davis Museum is open with free admission Tues.-Fri., 11am–5pm, and Sat. & Sun., noon—4pm.

There’s lots more in-person artsy stuff going on around town, Some of the venues are clear online about their masking polices, some less so, so contact the venue ahead of time with any questions.

Dana Hall Middle School to thaw out with Frozen

The Dana Hall Middle School will present its spring musical, Frozen Jr., on Thursday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m., in Bardwell Auditorium. The performance is free and open to the public.

Frozen Jr. is based on the 2018 Broadway musical and brings Elsa, Anna and the magical land of Arendelle to life onstage. The show features all of the memorable songs from the animated film, plus five new songs written for the Broadway production.

Bardwell Auditorium is located on the Dana Hall campus at 37 Cameron Street. Please note that Bardwell is not wheelchair accessible. For more information, please call (781) 235-3010 ext. 2731.

Wellesley High School Drama Society presents Mamma Mia

Show dates are Mar. 10, 11, and 12. Tickets, times, and more info here.

On pins and needles at quilt show

Wellesley artist Susan McCraw is showing her work at The Community Art Gallery’s current exhibit, Quilts, on display through May at Christ Episcopal Church in Needham,

McCraw’s designs are inspired by shapes and symbols used in traditional societies around the world. Free admission. Hours: Mon.–Fri, 9:30am–1:30pm & Sun., 9am–noon. Masks are required indoors

An artist’s reception will be held on Sun., March 13, 11:15am at Christ Episcopal Church, 1132 Highland Ave., Needham.

Wellesley Symphony Orchestra causing a Buzz

Orchestra-in-residence at MassBay Community College, The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Geneviève Leclair, will present Buzz on Sunday, April 3, 3pm, at 50 Oakland St., Wellesley.

Pieces will include Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee; Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D, first movement; soloist: John Matters, 2019 Competition Winner; Traditional: La Cucaracha (arr.); Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Wasps Overture; and Jonathan Peters: Arthropod Suite.

Wellesley arts roundup: Davis Museum not quite ready for the rest of us; Dana Hall shows children’s book art; paintings & collage at Main Library

January 12, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Our round-up of the latest Wellesley, Mass., arts news:

Davis Museum not quite ready for the rest of us

The Davis Museum at Wellesley College will be reopening its galleries to the Wellesley College campus community at the start of the spring semester, come Jan. 25. Among the exhibits: “Picturing Pompeii: Archaeology and Early Travel Photography.”

Virtual galleries remain the consolation prize for the wider community. Thanks, but we’ll pass. We filled our art quota for the month by taking in the Worcester Art Museum (we’ll try to sum up that visit for you soon).

worcester art musum — The big mosaic a Worcester Art Museum

Dana Hall gallery shows children’s book illustrations

The new Dana Hall Art Gallery exhibit called “Children’s Book Illustration and Other Work,” will run through Feb. 11. The show features the art of alumnae illustrators Devin Cole ’06 and Nez Riaz ’14.

Cole is a multimedia artist based in Italy whose work ranges from conceptual jewelry to large-scale paintings. Cole has self-published a children’s book intended to aid in teaching Italian.

Riaz has experience in children’s publishing and editorial illustration as well as educational art for print. She is serving as a sabbatical replacement for Visual Arts Department Head Michael Frassinelli.

Located in the Classroom Building, the Dana Hall Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Due to COVID-19 protocols, please email gallery@danahall.org before planning your visit. The gallery is closed weekends and school
holidays.

Wellesley library exhibits

At the Wellesley Free Library, two exhibits will run through the end of January. In the lobby, Wellesley resident Jae Roosevelt explores collage in her garage studio, which she describes as a “welcoming and creative space.”

Roosevelt, a Boston University Art History graduate, has shown her work in numerous galleries in Washington, D.C., as well as Accra, Ghana, and Nantucket. This is the first exhibit of her collages.

Art, Wellesley, Jae Roosevelt — Jae Roosevelt, collages.

In the Wakelin Room, Small Works, by Michael William, features paintings on a relatively small scale. William’s goal was to not spend more than a few days on each piece, and to choose simple subjects. In an artist’s statement, William says the paintings, “…bring me back to those moments where something often overlooked moved me enough to want to capture it.”

Art, Wellesley Library, Michael Williams — Spring Wedding, 12″ x 16″, acrylic on wood, by Michael William.

More: Seeing the world through Kunal Sharma’s eyes at Wellesley Free Library photography exhibit

Live theatre at Wellesley middle schools: Matilda & A Midsummer Night’s Dream

November 17, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley Middle School this week invites the public to attend Matilda: The Musical Jr. in person from Thursday, Nov. 18 to Saturday, Nov. 20. This will be the first in-person theater performance at WMS since before March 2020.

Ticket are on sale now.

Masks are required for all attendees, regardless of vaccination status. In addition, seating will be assigned to support social distancing.

The Dana Hall Middle School presents its fall play, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on Thursday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m., in Bardwell Auditorium. The performance is free and open to the public.

Like with Wellesley Middle School, this is the first public performance at Dana Hall since early last year.

In keeping with current protocols on campus, all students involved in the production and audience members will be masked while in Bardwell.

Bardwell Auditorium is located on the Dana Hall campus at 37 Cameron St. Bardwell is not wheelchair accessible. For more information, please call (781) 235-3010 ext. 2731 or visit www.danahall.org .

Wellesley sports update: Hockey & skiing in, hoops out for now; student-athletes sign with colleges

November 25, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley High School has announced that the following sports have been approved to play during the winter season, set to begin in mid-winter (practices start Dec. 14, meets/games on Jan. 4).

Those approved:

Ice hockey
Boys swimming & diving
Alpine & nordic skiing
Gymnastics

Not on the list for now:

Basketball

Basketball, listed as “pending further information” on the School Committee presentation, is challenging in that it relies on indoor facilities at the school that are being used for other purposes during the pandemic. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has approved the sport for the winter season, though it remains to be seen what other local schools do.

As for sports slated to be played, there will be no out-of-league competition or MIAA tournaments.

Dance, track & field, and wrestling have been moved by the MIAA to later seasons.

Congrats to local student-athletes who have signed national letters of intent to play sports in college:

Dana Hall School’s Kate Bossert ’21, a Needham resident, signed a letter of intent to play soccer at the University of
Vermont. She led the varsity team in scoring during her first three years with the Dana Hall team (she wasn’t able to play any games during her senior year due to the pandemic).

Margaux Gryska, a Wellesley High senior, signed to attend Syracuse University and compete on the women’s rowing team (Wellesley High doesn’t offer crew).

Wellesley High senior Grace Donahue signed a letter of intent to attend Holy Cross and play field hockey there.

Congratulations to Grace Donahue who signed her National Letter of Intent to play Field Hockey at Holy Cross. It is quite an accomplishment and honor to receive a Division 1 athletic scholarship.
Way to go Grace! pic.twitter.com/92h36Xhi9b

— Wellesley Raiders (@wellesleysports) November 20, 2020

Wellesley schools news: Last day of school; Black Wellesley students & alums share stories on Insta; Bates gets some love; Congrats to Dana Hall grads; Walking 100 miles for ABC

June 16, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Our round-up of the latest Wellesley, Mass., school-related news:

Last day of school

The last day of school is today, Tuesday, June 16, and we think it’s safe to assume that nobody will miss the remote-learning style of education that was put in place starting in mid-March, when schools were closed due to COVID-19 concerns.

Classes are scheduled to start back up on Wed., Sept. 2. How that will look in light of the pandemic is still being worked out by school administrators.

Black Wellesley students & alum share stories on Insta

A new Instagram account, black@wellesley, has been created as a space where alumni and current students can anonymously tell their stories of how race impacted their experiences at Wellesley High School. The account already has over 1k followers.

The account places an emphasis on Black voices and relays painful stories of racist experiences in the schools and the community. Stories abound about Black Wellesley residents being put on Metco school buses as young children; crass comments that Black students have had aimed at them throughout their time in the schools; and assumptions made about the financial situations of Black students.

To hear stories straight from the mouths of students and alumni, attend the Facebook Live Wake Up Wellesley discussion on Tue., June 16) at 6pm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN5XqoSf97k

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/3316951625001911/

Dana Hall students have created a similar Insta account, (black@danahall), as have students and alumni affiliated with hundreds of educational institutions around the country. The Dana account description says, “These are our stories. We are bursting the bubble. The big and the small things that never allowed us to just be students at Dana Hall.”

Bates gets some love

Bates Elementary School is looking a little brighter, despite not being physically open to students and staff, thanks to a new banner courtesy of Capucine Zelenko. Mom Susan tells us that Capucine, a rising junior at Ringling College of Art + Design (majoring in Illustration), “was moved by how caring the Bates community has been during this time (and the Wellesley community in general), and wanted to reach out to her little sister’s elementary school to show appreciation.”

bates banner

Congrats to Dana Hall grads

Dana Hall School held its 139th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 30. The 91 members of the Class of 2020 attended virtually, as did faculty, friends and family from around.

Board of Trustees Chair Marcia Teng Ishizuka ’77 welcomed students and their guests: “I’m sure this is not the graduation that you imagined three months ago, and yet it is no less significant than any other Dana graduation that has come before you. In fact, one could say that your graduation carries more meaning given the shared experience of these difficult times which too shall pass.”

Graduates included Wellesley residents Amica Fontijn-Harris, Margaret Gordon, Nathalie Martin-Nucatola, Catherine McCarron, Jessica Schwartz, Allison Sibold, Eleanor Simister, Grace Thames, Isabelle Varsa, Eliza Wallis, and Katherine Ward.

Walking for Wellesley ABC

Sonali Fiorillo, who just finished her freshman year at Wellesley High, says she has been “inspired by actions many people are taking to combat inequality recently.” So she has come up with a way of her own to help. She’s launched a crowdfunding campaign for Wellesley A Better Chance by committing to walk 100 miles over the next couple of weeks. “I have chosen this organization because we have to start making a change in our own communities to really see the impact. I like that they give opportunities afforded by Wellesley to young ladies of color,” Fiorillo says.

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