Housatonic student of the week

The Lakeville Journal congratulates the honorees of the student of the week program at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. FALLS VILLAGE — When Bianca Del Tufo suffered a concussion at the beginning of last year, her sunny future suddenly seemed cloudy. This week’s Student of the Week from Sharon could have been featured in this column as a sophomore, but a bad fall left her with headaches and fatigue that lasted throughout most of her junior year. However, thanks to her hard work and the support of her family and the HVRHS staff, Bianca has distinguished herself as a senior.Bianca described the days immediately following her injury as difficult and frustrating. Academic tasks that had come easily to her in the past took longer, if she was able to complete them at all. Gradually, with the help of her guidance counselor, Sharon Veatch, Bianca began to understand that she was not to blame for her newfound limitations, and that, by adjusting her work routines to include more frequent breaks and better planning, she could be the student she had been, and in some ways, a better one.Now, Bianca takes time to play the flute as an outlet. “It taps into a different channel in the brain,” she explains, and thanks to her experience, she now appreciates the power of the mind to understand the world in new and wonderful ways. She has recently been accepted at Marist College. Bianca is considering a major in the humanities or languages, although she is undecided at the moment. Perhaps Bianca is just keeping an open mind, but it certainly is a wonderful and engaging one that will adapt to any challenges that lie ahead.— Ian StreverAssistant Principal

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Dan Howe’s time machine
Dan Howe at the Kearcher-Monsell Gallery at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
Natalia Zukerman

“Every picture begins with just a collection of good shapes,” said painter and illustrator Dan Howe, standing amid his paintings and drawings at the Kearcher-Monsell Gallery at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. The exhibit, which opened on Friday, March 7, and runs through April 10, spans decades and influences, from magazine illustration to portrait commissions to imagined worlds pulled from childhood nostalgia. The works — some luminous and grand, others intimate and quiet — show an artist whose technique is steeped in history, but whose sensibility is wholly his own.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, and trained at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Howe’s artistic foundation was built on rigorous, old-school principles. “Back then, art school was like boot camp,” he recalled. “You took figure drawing five days a week, three hours a day. They tried to weed people out, but it was good training.” That discipline led him to study under Tom Lovell, a renowned illustrator from the golden age of magazine art. “Lovell always said, ‘No amount of detail can save a picture that’s commonplace in design.’”

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Reading between the lines with Jon Kopita

Jon Kopita reading between the lines at the David M. Hunt Library.

Natalia Zukerman

Jon Kopita’s work, with its repetitive, meticulous hand-lettering, is an exercise in obsession. Through repetition, words become something else entirely — more texture than text. Meaning at once fades and expands as lines, written over and over, become a meditation, a form of control that somehow liberates.

“I’m a rule follower, so I like rules, but I also like breaking them,” said Kopita, as we walked through his current exhibit, on view at the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village until March 20.

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Patton Oswalt brings comic relief to The Mahaiwe Theater Saturday, March 22

Patton Oswalt

Photo by Sam Jones

Comedian and actor Patton Oswalt is well known for his standup routine as well as his roles in film and television. Oswalt made his acting debut in the Seinfeld episode, “The Couch” and has appeared in “Parks and Rec,” “Reno 911,” “Modern Family,” and “A.P. Bio.” He has done voice-over work for movies including “Ratatouille,” and had his own Netflix special. “Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping.”

Oswalt will present his unique brand of humor in a show titled “Effervescent” at the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on Saturday, March 22. With sardonic style, he makes keen observations about American culture and gives biting critiques of the current administration.

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