May 12, 2025 submitted by Laura M. Donnelly
A version of this letter was submitted to the School Department earlier this week. I was encouraged to share it with Anchor readers as you, too, are considering the Hingham Public School’s master plan and budget this September through next year’s Town Meeting and beyond.
Dear Superintendent Roberts, Fine and Performing Arts Director Bellis and School Committee Members:
Last month, I accompanied my son to Admitted Students Day at Pratt Institute, a visual arts and design-based college in Brooklyn, NY. During the welcome speeches, the Admissions Director talked of a drawing created by his Kindergarten-aged child:
Envision four variations of stick figures, some with rectangles and others with triangles for bodies. The heads were different sized circles – not one being in proportion with the body. The hands had three finger-like bumps and the feet were horizontal ovals. Next to them was their dog made of navy blue ovals and circles and a squiggly-line for the tail. To the right of the family unit was the house – smaller in scale than the family – depicted as a purple rectangle with a pink triangular roof. The yellow-spiked sun was in the upper corner, with caribbean-blue shading for the sky. At the bottom of the picture was lime-green grass and flowers of various colors, allowing the family and house to float freely in the drawing.
We are all familiar with these creations. I’ve included one drawn by my son on his first day of Kindergarten in Hingham Public Schools (HPS).
The Admissions Director then posed a series of questions: At what point do we learn human bodies are not triangles or rectangles? When do we stop drawing circles for heads and start drawing heads in proportion with the body? And what about the blue dog, who is actually brown? And the purple house with the pink roof that exists only in the mind of the child? When do we make the house larger than our family? Finally, when do we tether ourselves to the ground?…
Last year’s HPS’ budget eliminated a high school visual arts teacher – a data-driven decision based on low student enrollment in visual arts classes. There is data and there is interest, however. Many students must weigh a science elective (or other subject-specific elective) over ceramics (or graphic design or painting, etc.); some must weigh an additional year of a foreign language or an advanced placement class over a visual arts elective; and students face schedule conflicts where the only visual arts class offering is at the same time as another required course. High school course schedules are complicated and, at times, unyielding. Guidance counselors and art teachers, thankfully, provide assistance and counsel.
There is no disputing Hingham is a sports town. The recently approved HPS’s FY 2026 budget includes over $1 million for athletics as well as an additional $880,000 for the turf field replacement, both of which I supported. Pause for a moment to reflect on this: Who designs the different sports uniforms playing on that field? Why is the Hingham “H” the font that it is? Why does Hingham use a very specific, bold red hue? From the clothes we wear to the packaging of the food we eat, to the cars we drive, to the logos and uniforms of the sports teams we cheer on, we are surrounded by the visual arts. With this in mind, how much of HPS’ FY 2026 budget supports the visual arts program?
Last week was Hingham’s district-wide art show. The high school cafeteria was amassed with colorful, beautiful creations and unbounded creativity by countless elementary and middle school students. In Room 103 was the HHS senior exhibition, featuring less than 10 seniors currently enrolled in a visual arts class.
The Pratt Admissions Director concluded his remarks by sharing the creative mind belongs to the individual; it can be suppressed or fostered by the world around them.
Next September, HPS and the School Committee will be updating HPS’ Strategic Plan. The HPS FY2027 budget process will also begin in September. During your concurrent efforts through Town Meeting and future years, I request you consider this question: Is HPS fostering the visual arts, or tethering the creative mind to the ground?
Respectfully,
Laura M. Donnelly
98 Manatee Road