Kathleen Mark ‘21:
Photo courtesy of The Episcopal Academy
David Sigel, Chair of the Art Department, is very passionate about his art and incorporating his students into his life. Art has always been a part of Sigel’s life: he says, “I was encouraged by my parents at a young age to take courses that I was interested in. I had two creative parents who encouraged us to be creative and curious.” As a young child he, “had piles of notebooks and sketchbooks I would draw in them every day.” Sigel continues, “my parents also had my siblings and me do summer programs that included art.”
Sigel realized he wanted to pursue art in his junior year of high school. “It wasn’t something that I wanted to do, but I realized I felt empty and incomplete if I didn’t do it. I just knew I could make it as an artist in some form… or I was going to work really hard to make it part of my livelihood.” After high school, Sigel continued his education at Boston University. Sigel explains, “I chose to go to a university because I thought it was important to have a multifaceted degree.” While in college and high school, he explored the possibility of becoming an actor, architect, or a carpenter.
After completing college, Sigel began to teach art. He remembers, “my first job was teaching at a high school in Maine, a school called Gould Academy.” He continued, “my second job was teaching at a school outside of Boston called the Fessenden school.” After teaching at the Fessenden School, Sigel joined the EA community in 2008.
Throughout the school year, Sigel works on various projects, though, “my outside career takes a back seat because all of my energy is given to setting up a program and making sure that I am organized and ready for the progression of projects and courses. Slowly I gain my footing and find the rhythm to be able to do both because both are important to me.”
Nowadays, Sigel’s personal career is heavily influenced by EA and his students. “My personal career is not outside of EA it is intrinsically part of the whole experience. Every day I am an artist who teaches and a teacher who uses art to teach and learn. The energy and freshness each of my students brings to the studio is an experience and celebration I weave into my own work as an artist.”
Sigel and his wife, Hilary Hutchinson, 3D art teacher, use the summer to work on various projects. Sigel explains, “we run a summer art program on the Cape where we also are practicing artists and exhibiting artists at different venues.” Sigel continues, “we use this time to prepare, practice, and develop our lessons for the school year.” Sigel says, “we also do a lot of reading, a lot of reconnecting with family and friends, a lot of outside activities like sailing and paddle boarding and kayaking and clamming and whatever you do in the summer.”
Students express gratitude towards Sigel. Ashley Lederman ‘21 says, “Sigel brings positive energy each class and has greatly influenced the approach to the visual arts.”
Sharing a similar sentiment, Josephine Buccini ‘21 expresses, “he’s been the best teacher and mentor to me and has helped me grow as both a person and an artist. We are so blessed to have great art teachers at EA.” Buccini adds, “I think he is so supportive of every student he teaches, no matter if their interests include art or not. We are so appreciative of him.”