Back in 1988-89 (22 years ago) before arriving here at SUNY Fredonia, I had the pleasure of teaching art at Lincoln-Sudbury High School in the outskirts of Boston, MA. The folks there were very nice to me and the students were very committed to their education. One of those curious students was a young man whose name was Josh Peters. He was always asking questions and there seemed to be a genuine interest in art outside the academic setting but I also knew that life had a way of directing one’s future and that being an artist can be a difficult career choice. I really didn’t think much about it until Josh emailed me a few years ago that he was finishing graduate school at Rutgers University with a MFA in Painting.

I was surprised by the email but very proud of his hard work and perseverance.  I’m glad that we have kept in touch ever since as I have seen him exhibit his work in China, Hong Kong, Germany as well as in major cities on the east and west coast of the United States. He is now also curating “ La Californie”, an exhibition that opens this Friday, September 9th, in Los Angeles. It is very exciting to experience his progress through his career ….maybe getting old isn’t so bad if you can stick around long enough to see your students realize some of their dreams.

He will also be exhibiting in the ‘2011 Fellows’ exhibition at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA and ‘The Unseen’ exhibition at the Torrance Museum of Art, Torrance, CA.