Artmaking can be an uplifting creative outlet, a therapeutic experience, or simply a pleasant distraction. For one student in our Art + Wellness program, an afternoon printmaking class meant so much more.
“This was one and a half hours of my life,” they told us, “that I didn’t spend thinking about having leukemia.”
Sawtooth School for Visual Art is the Triad’s premier community art school, providing over 1,000 classes and workshops annually across 11 disciplines. Our offerings are open to everyone, regardless of age, background, or skill level.
Our 2024 fiscal year has been monumental for the organization, and we’re proud to provide this annual report summarizing Sawtooth’s top-level accomplishments and immense growth over the past twelve months.
Anthony Conley, or Tony, as he’s known around here, first came to Sawtooth over a decade ago. He got a “taste of pottery,” as he described it, during classes we offered in partnership with the Winston-Salem Institute for the Blind, now IFB Solutions. Years later, he felt the pull to return to our school when looking for a hobby he could dedicate himself to.
When Po Wen Liu had to craft new recipes for our studio glazes, he was determined to precisely match all the colors we had.
The kicker? It only took him one try to get it right.
Reformulating the colorful coatings was a tall order. Our ceramics students have used Sawtooth’s palette of custom glazes for decades, with shades and tints that many of them had fallen in love with. Due to supply chain issues, Po Wen, our Director of Ceramics, knew these same mixtures wouldn’t be available for much longer.
“My artistic passion is silversmithing and jewelry fabrication. Because the jewelry I create contains precious metal and gemstones, folks will likely not lose track of it. The jewelry I’ve made here at Sawtooth will be around a lot longer than I will. And since I’ve invested my professional life in Sawtooth School, I hope that the work I’ve put into the programs and school will also endure for many more generations to come”
