Welcome

The weekend of January 28, the Stoneleigh-Burnham School’s Geissler Gallery Winter Visiting Artist Malaika Ross installed her exhibition. On Thursday, February 9, the artist’s birthday, SBS hosted a reception to formally welcome Ross and allow community members to explore her art. 

Ross is a Caribbean-American artist currently based in Western Massachusetts who earned her BA from Hampshire College with a focus in soil microbiology and studied both painting and drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design, San Francisco Art Institute, and the Marchutz School of Fine Arts. Ross completed intensive coursework in sustainable farming, ecological restoration, and Hawaiian ethnobotany at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Ross is also an independent school graduate, having attended Williston Northampton School in nearby Easthampton, MA. Prior to attending Williston, Ross grew up on the very small island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and spent the vast majority of her childhood playing outdoors with soil, walking among tall grasses, feeding goats and learning about the healing qualities of plants from all the women in her family.⁠ 

Ross shares, “I integrate the shapes and patterns developed in my microbial drawings of soil microbes into contemporary botanical paintings of native and introduced flora. The act of observing and documenting nature through painting and drawing as a black woman, is a form of liberation, environmental stewardship and anti-oppression work.” And continues, “Some of my work places a black figure prominently in a natural setting, even as an element of nature, to remind the viewer that nature belongs to everyone and our BIPOC ancestors and communities continue to be connected to and defend the land in a way that protects natural resources for everyone.”

Geissler Gallery Coordinator and Visual Arts faculty Taylor King, who partners with SBS’s visiting artists, is featured with Ross in Geissler Gallery during the opening reception. King and Ross flank one of Ross’ creations: Abstracted antler lichen and color study. Ink, graphite and watercolor on paper. 

Ross' exhibition 'Another Way to Experience Winter' will be on view from January 30 - March 17.