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After stepping in for Ms. Jennifer Mack-Watkins during her leave of absence last year, Ms. Nancy Ring joined the Pingry Arts Department permanently this fall. She now teaches Art Fundamentals in the Upper School as well as two eighth grade electives, Drawing & Painting and Art & Nature. Eager to immerse herself in the community, Ms. Ring has taken on roles beyond the art studio; she co-directs the Hostetter Gallery along with Ms. Rebecca Sullivan, hosts the Middle School Art Club, co-advises Form III students with Mr. Freiwald, and serves on the Diversity Committee and the Multicultural Team.<\/p>\n
Outside of Pingry, Ms. Ring works as a professional artist and occupies a studio space in East Orange. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry, baking, and going for runs. She recently picked up a new hobby: \u201cI play the violin\u2013\u2013badly. I started taking lessons in May, so I play like a kindergartener, but I love it.\u201d Her \u201cpride and joy\u201d is her 20-year-old son, a music major at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.<\/p>\n
As an undergraduate student, Ms. Ring attended the Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts and earned her B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Studio Art. Of the experience, she said, \u201c[It was] a large university and I loved the diversity. It\u2019s a passion of mine. The fact that there were not only artists there but also people studying every single kind of subject you can imagine\u2013\u2013I found that exciting.\u201d She went on to graduate from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with her M.F.A. (Masters of Fine Art).<\/p>\n
Ms. Ring\u2019s passion for the visual arts has been integral to her life for nearly as long as she can imagine. \u201cI knew I was an artist when I was eight years old,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s who I am. I have a very visual experience of the world\u2026As a little, little girl, I told everyone who would listen that I was going to be an artist. I just knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this coming year, she hopes to infuse that same passion in the hearts of her students, Upper and Middle Schoolers alike. Ms. Ring\u2019s goal \u201cis to make sure that my students feel they own their work, that it\u2019s not me giving out projects that matter to me but rather finding ways to relate the projects to the students\u2019 lives in as many ways as I possibly can.\u201d With a laugh, she added, \u201cIf I can manage it.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s anything she loves particularly about the Pingry community thus far, Ms. Ring said it\u2019s the school\u2019s attention to the arts. \u201cPingry honors art,\u201d she explained. \u201cIn a lot of schools, art is just something on the side\u2013\u2013you know how it is. At Pingry, there\u2019s an arts building, there\u2019s a professional gallery\u2026there are a lot of talented artists. The enthusiasm for the arts here is very rare and special.\u201d Joining an environment as conducive to artistic exploration and experimentation as Pingry has brought her nothing short of joy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Pingry. Pingry\u2019s amazing,\u201d she remarked. Ms. Ring added, \u201cI knew it when I worked here as a leave replacement. I really wanted to come back, so I feel as though this is a gift. It\u2019s wonderful!\u201d<\/p>\n
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