Four-year senior Chloe So developed a passion for art at a very young age. Her parents enrolled her in classes ranging from baby arts and crafts, to Chinese paintings, to clay sculpting lessons. But as her schedule became busier, her parents urged her to stop taking so many art classes. She, however, refused and opted to juggle her many activities for the sake of art.

With the exception of her freshman year, So has taken an art course every year at Deerfield: AP Studio Art as a sophomore, Topics: Post AP Studio Art as a junior and now Topics Tutorial. Her extensive contributions to the art program have allowed art teacher (and established artist) David Dickinson—or Mr. D. as most of his art students call him—to watch So grow and think as an artist.

I really cannot thank Mr D. enough,” So declared. “My experience at DA, with or without art, would have been completely different without him.”

“Little known fact,” said Mr. Dickinson, “is that a lot of Chloe’s work is done without the benefit of a grade.”

So took AP Studio Art as a graded course for one term, a pass/fail course for two terms and then went on to take Topics again as a pass/fail course her junior year.

Mr. Dickinson added, “I can tell that Chloe does art for the love of art, which speaks volumes to her dedication.”

“He has been my rock,” So continued, “the countless hours he has spent ‘lecturing’ me on life, the different perspectives he gives me in art, and of course, the guidance he has given me to help me grow and think as an artist.”

At Deerfield, So sees art as both a passion and a chance to ease her fast pace of life. “Doing art at Deerfield has really been a big part of me,” she explained. “It has given me the time and space to think and slow down a little.” She feels that with homework, sports, publications and general stress to manage, art can be a way for her to escape.

“While I’m doing art here,” So continued, “while zooming in on the micro—details of the still life, my mind goes to a world of reflection. I think of my past, present and future, and I think this is really important as you can learn to appreciate what you have and use time to self-reflect and try to become a better person.”

So is currently working on an independent art project that emphasizes the progression of the buildings around Albany Road: “Deerfield stresses traditions a lot, and for me, living in the 21st century, it’s to a certain extent hard to connect back to the Academy’s history.”

So is exploring Deerfield’s growth as a school, focusing on the 1920s, 1950s and 1970s on respective panels. Although So has been working on it for several months now, the project is yet to be completed, but she hopes to have the project wrapped up by early spring.

In the future, So hopes to expand her range in art. “Art is such a broad discipline,” she said.

Currently, she hasn’t decided what type of art she wants to pursue. “Whether it is museum studies architecture studies, design, or even being a fine artist,” she concluded, “I want to use art as a medium to learn, explore and develop in college. Hopefully, I’ll be able to create something unique and impact people positively in the future.”