Art History Class Honors Legend

For decades, Tom Adams’ Art History class inspired countless Marksmen to develop an appreciation for art in its many forms. Adams, a true Renaissance man and 47-year veteran of the St. Mark’s faculty, led students on unforgettable journeys through the world’s masterpieces and instilled a lifelong appreciation for the arts.   

 

During his nearly half-century on the faculty, Tom Adams distinguished himself across campus, in and out of the classroom: respected advisor and class sponsor, award-winning basketball and baseball coach, and exemplary master teacher, whose history classes became a legendary part of the St. Mark’s experience. Graduates across the generations fondly recall his classes as rigorous, engaging, and life-shaping. In Art History, Adams would click through slides of Greek sculpture and modern abstraction paintings, pushing his students to grapple with aesthetics and composition, but also important cultural and historical context.

  

Since Mr. Adams’ retirement in 2009, there have been ongoing discussions about how to revise his wonderful art history classes. Throughout the past decade, recruitment efforts have included ways to attract teachers who had the potential to bring the expertise and interest necessary to revive this program. In 2019, Dr. Andrea Hamilton joined the History and Social Science Department and began working closely with Department Chair David Fisher on developing a new AP Art History course, a class that launched last year and gained further momentum this year. 

  

“The purpose of art history is to cultivate more sophisticated ways of understanding the human experience, both past and present – and Tom Adams’ impact on his students seems to represent that,” Dr. Hamilton said. “I’ve had some boys tell me they didn’t think they belonged in an Art History class because they weren’t ‘artistic,’ but it seems to me that Tom Adams’ class debunked that notion.”   

  

Dr. Hamilton has sought to foster students’ love of art through class visits to many of North Texas’s art museums, including the Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, and the Nasher Sculpture Center, where they met Jed Morse ’90, Chief Curator, and a former student of Tom Adams.
 

“Centering our humanity in history, the way Mr. Adams did, continues to be a foundation for my work as a curator and art historian,” said Morse, “I was always grateful for how Mr. Adams presented history as a fully fleshed-out record of our country's striving, with all the accomplishments, tragedies, and foibles that make U.S. history a history of us.”  

  

Dr. Hamilton also invites special guests who bring unique perspectives to the world of art history. Robert Edsel ’75, St. Mark’s Distinguished Alumnus and bestselling author, shared with the class his work telling the story of the Monuments Men and Women who saved many of Europe’s art treasures from the Nazis.

  

The class also hosted another special guest speaker during the past two years – Eugene McDermott Headmaster David W. Dini, who talked with the boys about the careful decisions that are needed to guide campus architecture, space planning, iconography, artwork, visual displays, and how to intentionally create a welcoming environment.

  

“There’s a lot of intentionality to how St. Mark’s operates, and that carries over to the physical spaces on campus,” said Dini. He referenced the School’s campus master plan, which has seen 10600 Preston Road grow dramatically and thoughtfully over the generations. While many new buildings have been developed across the decades, the campus still maintains a cohesive visual identity and an open, welcoming feeling. “We spend a lot of time thinking about how to purposely and actively create a sense of place.”

 

As Dini illustrated, art history goes well beyond the paintings and sculptures. Through each lesson, boys are developing new analytical skills, expanding their vocabulary, and learning about different art forms from varying perspectives.

  

“I’m not teaching history as something to which there is one definitive answer,” Dr. Hamilton said. “There can be things that are factually wrong or right, but as far as interpretations, I think in most things that I teach, I’m trying to encourage students to think there’s not just one easy, black and white answer and that there’s always nuance.”
 
Tom Adams' legacy lives on, not only in the thousands of Marksmen he taught, but also across the St. Mark’s campus, including the Tom Adams Court in the new Zierk Athletic Center, the Thomas S. Adams Master Teaching Chair, and the Thomas S. Adams Plaque, which recognizes athletic contributions for performance and sportsmanship. 

 

And now, a revived class in Art History also lives on and will continue to inspire generations of Marksmen — a wonderful tribute to a man who changed the course of history for our school.