William Shen ‘27
Sep 26, 2025
The Burgin Center for the Arts hosted the first Sips and Nibbles event of the 2025-26 school year in the Cofrin Gallery, continuing the custom of pairing of community gatherings and light refreshments with visiting artists whose work sparks dialogue across campus. This year’s first show features Amy Wilson, a professional artist and arts educator, showcasing her exhibition In the Wild Blue, a collection of cyanotype artworks created over the past year and a half.
Wilson described her work as deeply influenced by her surroundings, specifically the natural environment, “My general inspiration would be connecting with nature and finding the plants really beautiful; each one of these plants I picked myself from a certain location, so for each one, I have a connection with a place and with a time.”
Her work reflects both the delicateness and resilience of the natural world. Using elements such as snowflakes, water, and pigments released from plants, Wilson creates cyanotypes that balance texture, depth, and subtle variation, which bring out the nuances in the subject matter, as well as overall diverse aesthetics.
Through her cyanotype collection, Wilson wants to convey a central message: “I think that people today are very busy, and they are very focused right here [on the phone]. I want people to be aware of their surroundings and how beautiful nature is. A lot of people have told me today that they come in here and it reduces their stress to be in this environment, and that’s what being outside does for me: it reduces my stress, it centers me and grounds me, and I wanted to share that.”
Students responded enthusiastically to Wilson’s artworks. Harry Cameron ‘26 said, “I really enjoy all the different colors and it’s a new take on the mix of environment and artwork.” Xiomara Del Rosario ‘26 mentioned the “likeness of the clear thematic blue and greens, but also the incorporation of different elements, like the leaves and flowers, and other everyday things you see in nature.”
Sydney Caretti, Mercersburg’s Director of Galleries and a long-time friend of Wilson, offered her perspective, commenting, “I think that her [Wilson’s] work—any solid piece of fine art—can evoke emotion and peer into the environment which is really in jeopardy right now. A lot of people have commented on how they feel like they can breathe when they go in nature, and this work brings me so much peace and harmony and solitude.”
Building on the sense of peace and reflection, Caretti emphasized how Wilson’s art draws attention to the often unnoticed intricacies of nature, “This is something that we should cherish and we should notice, and the details that these [artworks] have are things that I don't necessarily notice when I'm out in nature on my own, but the way that she captures it brings it to my attention in a beautiful way.” Furthermore, having attended one of Wilson’s summer workshops, Caretti described Wilson’s creative process as “the magic of working with nature.”
Wilson was invited to open the year because Caretti’s believes Wilson’s art can shape the thinking of the student body. Caretti explained, “In our hopes of being more sustainable for future generations, having nature on exhibit and showing that we support it, we see it, and we know it’s around us, ties into the mission of Mercersburg, which is to steward our students forward and to make the world better.”