March 12, 2025
Inspiration through intermedia
Artist-in-Residence Paul Hertz ’67by Allyson Irish
Music. Math. Science. Theatre. Algorithms. What some may consider distinct and unrelated areas of study, artist Paul Hertz ’67 sees as a rich array of interconnected forms for expression.
An independent artist, printmaker, and curator, Hertz was the Addison Gallery’s Edward E. Elson Artist-in-Residence (AIR) this past February. Though Hertz had been back to campus for reunions and to visit former teachers, living on campus and working with students was a new experience for him—an experience he says was both gratifying and fun.
“I found the students to be open-minded and curious,” says Hertz, who was invited to take part in computer science, philosophy, and digital photography classes, among others. He was particularly excited about his time with the music theory class, during which students performed a score that Hertz had written but had not heard since 1982.
The students got it. They understood the whole thing about different groups of instruments entering, leaving, and overlapping. That’s what the texture of the piece is all about.
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As a child, Hertz enjoyed music, science, and math. “I was the nerdy kid who read algebra books at the library,” he recalls.
After studying one summer with artist Ethel M. Cook in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio, Hertz was inspired to focus more on his own art at Andover. Later, at Brown University, he began to blend the study of fine arts with other disciplines, such as electronic music and ethnomusicology. One of his professors, Fred Lieberman, was particularly influential, first introducing to Hertz the concept of intermedia, a term coined in the 1960s to describe the fusion of different artistic media.
Eventually, Hertz would move to Spain and collaborate with composers and an experimental theatre group. These experiences led to Hertz’s decision to study computational and electronic media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and his eventual focus on electronic and digital media to blend music and art.
Intractable Light by Paul Hertz ’67
Andover’s AIR program began in 1946 and was endowed in 1982 through a gift from Trustee Emeritus Edward E. Elson ’52. Between one and four artists are typically invited each year to live at the Visiting Artist’s Apartment, located in Abbot Hall. The apartment was gifted by Ann McKeever Hatch ’67 and designed by conceptual artist David Ireland.
According to Jamie Kaplowitz Gibbons, head of education at the Addison Gallery of American Art, residencies vary based on the artist’s goals and play an important role in the museum’s educational programming.
“The artists we bring to campus have the opportunity to meet with Academy students as well as students from surrounding communities,” Gibbons explains. “The artists present public lectures and workshops and also often choose to create art of their own.”
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