Community Corner

Local Artist Gives Back In So Many Ways

Quaker Hill artist John Sargent taught art at Williams School and helped establish the ISAAC school in New London. As an activist and volunteer, he's dedicated to preservation. His art at Niantic Center Church.

A Press Release from Niantic Community Church 

Niantic Community Church is the fortunate recipient of the loan of  the “ Visions of Light” a series of paintings by Quaker Hill artist John Sargent. Mr. Sargent has lived and worked in Southeastern, CT during the past 30 years and has gained much inspiration from this local environment; however, there also have been a number of other experiences that have influenced his life and artwork.

Sargent grew up in the Hartford area, but often summered as a child along the Connecticut shore. He remembers tapping into creativity in his early years when shirt cardboard from the cleaners became castles and forts, and art class and woodshop were the highlight of his school days. In high school he spent many hours painting and drawing. He later went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University.

In 1970, soon after college graduation, he was granted a conscientious objector status in lieu of serving in the Vietnam War. This decision shaped his life because the alternative service introduced him to the field of human services. Spending time living in Georgia, Vermont and Canada, Sargent developed a career in education that included working with a variety of age groups and needs. In Georgia he taught in low-income neighborhoods and worked with high school dropouts. He pursued a graduate degree in art education at Goddard College in Vermont and in Canada was trained in processes which encourage the development of spirituality, self-awareness, and inner vision.

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In 1980 Sargent returned to Connecticut to study at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. At the Academy he received a solid foundation in traditional art techniques.  This study gave strength to his teaching and overall creative output.

In 1983, Sargent began a 24-year career teaching art at The Williams School in New London, CT.  During this time period he had the opportunity to study Chinese Painting in China. As a result the knowledge of these techniques and of the traditional Asian aesthetic became an integral part of his repertoire in his teaching and personal artwork. He also worked with his students on addressing issues of political and environmental consciousness.  

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Finding peace out in the world and within oneself have been themes that have continued throughout his life and with his family. While attending a conference about the Nuclear Freeze Movement in New Haven, he met his (future) wife Linda. They were in a line for coffee and he shared his herbal tea bag with her. They married in 1986 and made Quaker Hill their home. They have a son, 21 majoring in Environmental Studies and a daughter, 23 who majored in Education and Art History.

When his children were younger he was one of the early parents and volunteers of the Regional Multicultural Magnet School. “RMMS is designed to cross over boundaries between urban, suburban and rural areas in order to help alleviate  racial and cultural isolation,” said Sargent. An alternative form of education is provided there that focuses on cross-curricular and project based learning in a multicultural setting. His wife currently works at the school.

As his kids grew, so did Sargent’s interest in continuing their opportunity to be in this type of school environment. This led to his involvement with several other RMMS parents to create the Inter-district School for Arts and Communication (ISAAC School).  He served the school for six years as an artist in residence. In this capacity he helped show how creativity can be an asset to other educational goals and a catalyst and vehicle for working with challenging students. In this vein he used art making as a means of helping young people to become more connected with nature and more aware of ways to begin to solve environmental issues.

Since his retirement in 2012, he has been focused on getting his own artwork out into the community, and he also has engaged in a variety of forms of community service. He is helping the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, and local land trusts and is a founding member and volunteer of the Fiddleheads Natural Foods Co-op in New London.

He is in the process of a yearlong venture with a local photographer, working on a project to save the 840-acre Plum Island from development. The island is expected to be put up for sale and has conservationists on alert. There is hope that the property might be turned over to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services or other preservation organization. In an effort to protect this vital Long Island Sound habitat, Sargent’s paintings will be on exhibit at the Acton Public Library of Old Saybrook,  in October of 2014. “We hope to make the public aware of what’s going on,” he said. “We could lose this important ecosystem. I am hoping to use my art to increase awareness as well as express something about the beauty of nature.”

His work has been shown at the Waterford Public Library, Expressiones Cultural Center and Hygienic Art Gallery in New London, The La Grua Center in Stonington Borough and the Converse Art Gallery of the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich. He is a regular contributor to the fairy house exhibits each October at The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. In this work he uses driftwood and other natural materials. He also is a regular contributor to the Connecticut College Arboretum Photography Exhibit; he often walks in this neighboring nature sanctuary.

Through various forms of art mediums he makes connections in the community and with the local natural environment. Sargent recently loaned the six paintings titled “Visions of Light”, to Niantic Community Church because the church supports and encourages mindful creative activities as a means of enriching one’s life spiritually. “The series came out of a meditation practice which imagines light in the heart.” he said. “I wanted a way to share these images. I’ve become very fond of The Niantic Community Church and I very much appreciate the programs there.”

Sargent participates in The Healing Art of Photography and Sacred Source Painting offered monthly at the church. For more information about the creative programming at NCC or to view the Visions of Light exhibit, call (860) 739-6208 or stop by. NCC is located at 170 Pennsylvania Avenue, Niantic. 


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