Category: Arts & Culture

1991-2021 Alumni Exhibition

When I was a young student of architecture, I was lucky to learn from one of the best– Vernon Shogren, professor of architecture at the N.C. State School of Design. He challenged his students to own our concepts, know what we were doing, and argue for the final designs we created. He had no problem sitting for long minutes in silence, waiting for us to speak up. Later, as I began teaching, and even now, I find it hard to sit still like him. He let his students learn. As a teacher, I try to do the same.

I took the position to teach architecture at William & Mary as an adjunct instructor thirty years ago with no intention of staying beyond a few years, much less thirty. But I soon experienced the profound joy of working with smart, curious, and hard-working students. I discovered that I had more to learn than they, and I had to learn to let them learn.

The work of my former students in this exhibition is surprising to me, even though I knew each of them quite well. I believed they had enormous potential, and the exceptional design intelligence and skill reflected in their work here bears that out.

Bringing this work together has been a logistical challenge, and my only regret is that all of my former students couldn’t be a part of this exhibition. Every one taught me.

Thanks to my Department of Art & Art History colleagues, and especially to Pam Hawkes, Director of the Andrews Gallery. She has put in countless hours bringing this online exhibition to fruition and we are all grateful for the skill and collaborative spirit that she brought to this work.

Ed Pease
Senior Lecturer

View the Exhibition