The Form of 2016 Plaque

The upper left corner of the 2016 plaque has two puzzle pieces with the letters “SPS” on them to represent the first SPS Puzzle Hunt day. On the upper right side a baseball bat, a section of track, and a hockey stick, spells out the letters “ISL” to mark the School’s decision to leave the athletic organization. The center design features a Bald Eagle and a Tocoro bird (the national bird of Cuba) perched together on an olive branch to represent the normalization of relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States. The bottom of the plaque depicts Tuck and Hargate with a double ended arrow between them, representing the construction phase and exchange of functions between the two buildings.

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2016 Plaque Progress: Plaque Completed

The Form of 2016 plaque is now completed.  The detail photograph above shows a sample of the painted finish on the plaque – an American eagle and Cuban trogan bird representing the normalizing of relationships between the US and Cuba.

The completed framed plaque will be presented on Anniversary Weekend at the beginning of June – at which time photographs of the finished plaque will be published online.  Thank you to the representatives from the Form of 2016 for their help with this project – make sure to stop by the Upper to see your plaque if you are visiting that weekend!

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2016 Plaque Progress: Carving Completed

The carving for the Form of 2016 plaque is now completed. The representatives from the Form of 2016 chose the following events to be illustrated on the plaque:

• Upper Left: Puzzle pieces with the letters “SPS” represent the first SPS Puzzle Hunt day
• Upper Right: A baseball bat, a section of track, and a hockey stick, spell out the letters “ISL” to mark the decision to end membership in the Independent School League after the 2016-17 school year
• Center: A Bald Eagle and a Cuban Trogon bird (the national bird of Cuba) perch together on an olive branch to represent the normalization of relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States
• Bottom Left and Right: Tuck and Hargate, shown with a double ended arrow between them, represents the renovations begun this spring that will result in the exchange of functions between these two buildings

Now that the carving process is completed, I will apply a painted finish to the plaque to have it ready for presentation at the 2017 Anniversary Weekend at the beginning of June. Stay tuned for updates on the completion of the plaque!

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2016 Plaque Progress: Design Completed

The design stage is complete for the 2016 form plaque. I worked with representatives from the Form of 2016 during the school year to come up with a list of events, and the following were chosen by them to represent their 6th Form experiences at SPS:

• Upper Left: Puzzle pieces with the letters “SPS” represent the first SPS Puzzle Hunt day
• Upper Right: A baseball bat, a section of track, and a hockey stick, spell out the letters “ISL” to mark the decision to end membership in the Independent School League after the 2016-17 school year
• Center: A Bald Eagle and a Cuban Trogon bird (the national bird of Cuba) perch together on an olive branch to represent the normalization of relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States
• Bottom Left and Right: Tuck and Hargate, shown with a double ended arrow between them, represents the renovations begun this spring that will result in the exchange of functions between these two buildings.

I will be posting photos of the carving process here on the Form Plaque Project blog and on the Form Plaque Project Facebook page when I begin working on the carving process of the 2016 plaque

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The Form of 1998 Plaque

Here is a photograph of the completed plaque for the Form of 1998. It was dedicated on June 1, 2013 and hangs in the Middle Dining Hall of Coit (The Upper) above the panels that contain the names of all the members of the Form of 1998. Below the photo is the description of the elements incorporated in the plaque design.

The New Hampshire State House dome is the central image for the 1998 Form plaque, and represents the march by over 300 community members from St. Paul’s School to the State House lawn on Martin Luther King Day that year. The march was organized to encourage the State to add Martin Luther King Jr.’s name to the holiday, which was called Civil Rights Day at the time. This is represented by the MLK initials carved in the tympanum beneath the State House dome. The upper right corner of the plaque features an open book with the initials CBA carved onto the pages, representing the beginning of the Rectorship of the Right Reverend Dr. Craig Barry Anderson, Eleventh Rector of St. Paul’s School. The book symbolizes the Rural Record, a journal of day-to-day life that was kept at St. Paul’s School from 1857 into the early 20th century. In the upper left corner is a trophy with the Roman numerals IV carved into it. This represents the four sports teams that won New England championships that school year – field hockey, wrestling, boys’ crew, and girls’ crew. In the lower center section of the plaque a shield is carved featuring an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall. This represents the boys’ and girls’ crew teams’ trip to the Henley Regatta – where the girls’ team won the Peabody cup. The lower left and right sections feature four feathers representing each of the newly renovated Quad dorms. Each of the dorms has a stone carving on the building representing a different bird – an owl for Manville, a pelican for Simpson, a rooster for Brewster, and an eagle for Ford – the feathers in the carving are from each kind of bird.

1998 Plaque Progress: Plaque Completed

The Form of 1998 plaque is now completed.  The above photograph shows a sample of the painted finish on the plaque – the center portion showing the New Hampshire State Capitol dome representing the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march.

The completed framed plaque will be revealed on Anniversary Weekend on Saturday June 1st – at which time photographs of the finished plaque will be published online.  Thank you to the representative from the Form of 1998 for your help with this project –  I am looking forward to seeing members of the Form of 1998 at the SPS Anniversary event to celebrate your new Form plaque!

1998 Plaque Progress: Carving Complete

Above is a photo of the completed carving for the 1998 Form plaque.  The photos below show details of the finished carving:

The center of the carving features the State House dome with the initials MLK in the tympanum. This represents the march from SPS to the State House on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (which was then called Civil Rights Day) to encourage the addition of MLK’s name to the New Hampshire State Holiday.

In the upper right corner features an open book with the initials CBA to represent the beginning of the Right Reverend Dr. Craig Barry Anderson’s term as Eleventh Rector of St. Paul’s School.

The upper left corner shows a trophy with the Roman numerals IV representing the four sports teams that won New England championships that school year – field hockey, wrestling, boys’ crew, and girls’ crew.

In the lower center portion of the plaque there is a carving of a shield featuring an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall. This represents the boy’s and girl’s crew teams trip to the Henley Regatta – the girls’ team winning the Peabody Cup.

The lower left and right sides of the plaque feature four carved feathers – each representing one of the Quad dorms that were renovated and re-dedicated on October 3, 1997.  Each of the dorms has a stone carving representing a different bird – an owl for Manville, a pelican for Simpson, a rooster for Brewster, and an eagle for Ford – feathers are shown from each kind of bird.

Once the carving has been sealed with a linseed oil finish it will be ready for the painting process to begin.Check back in a few weeks for a sneak peek photo of the finished plaque.

1998 Form Plaque Progress: Design Complete

The design stage is complete for the 1998 Form plaque. I worked with a representative of the Form of 1998 to come up with a list of events, and the following design elements were chosen:

1998 Form Plaque Design Elements

Plaque designs traditionally incorporate one world news event and three to five School events.

World Event:

• Center: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – the march from SPS to State House to encourage the addition of MLK’s name to the State Holiday. This is shown as the State House dome with the initials MLK in the tympanum.

School Events:

• Upper right: An open book with the initials CBA to represent the beginning of the Right Reverend Dr. Craig Barry Anderson term as Eleventh Rector of St. Paul’s School.
• Upper left: A trophy with the Roman numerals IV representing the four sports teams that won New England championships that school year – Field Hockey, Wrestling, Boys’ Crew, and Girls’ Crew.
• Lower center: A shield featuring an element from the coat-of-arms from the Henley-on-Thames Town Hall representing that the boy’s and girl’s crew teams went to the Henley Regatta – the girls’ team winning the Peabody cup.
• Lower left and right: Four feathers represent each of the Quad dorms that were renovated and re-dedicated on October 3, 1997.  Each of the dorms has a stone carving representing a different bird – an owl for Manville, a pelican for Simpson, a rooster for Brewster, and an eagle for Ford – so feathers are shown from each kind of bird.

I will begin working on carving the plaque next and will post images of the carving as the work progresses.