The inaugural Drake Gallery exhibition of the 2025-26 school year is finally here. The gallery opened on Friday, Sept. 5 and features the work of SPA alumni. Rather than focusing on one particular medium, this exhibit gives a space to all kinds of visual artistry, from photography to painting to textile craft. 
David Ellis, a member of the class of 1983, is a photographer and director of motion videos, whose work gives the impression of respect and understanding for the beauty of the moment he has captured. His work focuses less on manipulating what’s around him to compose an image and more on the truth that is in observance, a truth that in itself is worth capturing.
Bruce Hook, class of 1985, is a photographer, sculptor and performance artist, although his primary medium has been photography over the last 20 years. His photographs are strikingly cinematic: vast black-and-white mountain ranges, skyscapes and still, silent bodies of water. Hook manages to skillfully represent worlds of different scales, a focus ranging from the minutiae of the natural world to its boundless horizons.
Isabelle McCormick, class of 2010, is a painting and drawing studio fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her work draws from her research in many fields, including social psychology, gender studies and how we alter or perceive ourselves in certain spaces online. Her textured pieces fully use the canvas; many are almost reminiscent of assemblage. McCormick’s perspective on the infinite space between the person we put online and the person we truly are is a refreshing and relevant one. 
Cathy Weyerhaeuser, class of 1975, has written and illustrated many nonfiction science books with Mountain Press Publishing. Her playful drawings often feature animals and work with patterning that resembles tactile fabric work. The whimsical world portrayed by her drawings hides within it a connection to nature, particularly fauna and its importance in our world.
Anya Wild, class of 2005, works as a textile artist, painter and printmaker. The muted, earth tones she tends towards in her textile artistry and painting blend into a cohesive color scheme that leads the audience’s eyes easily through the visual mazes she creates. The eerie, Kafkaesque image motifs featured in her paintings are haunting and entirely fascinating.
This eclectic art collection will be available to visit in the Drake Gallery through September.
