Washstand

Joe Liles, standing next to the cupola on top of Watts Hall.

Washstand

1981

I have always loved old antique furniture, and I had an old timey oak washstand in my home that came from rural eastern North Carolina. I was now living in the first home my wife and I were lucky enough to buy. This home was enabled by the fact that I was no longer a “starving artist.” I had landed the job as Instructor of Art at the new North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was told some years later that I was the first teacher hired by the School. All I know is I wanted this job at this new school so much. It has always intrigued me that it is likely that the first teacher hired by the School of Science and Math was the Instructor of Art.
On my second Thanksgiving at NCSSM, I worked over the break to print this eight-color print (my most complicated yet!) in the Art Classroom on fourth Bryan. I occupied this long hallway with the Math Department on one end and me on the other. This was my domain for the next six years as we renovated the old Operating Rooms of Watts Hospital, the Emergency Department, and the original Pharmacy to make the ultimate home of the NCSSM Art Studio for all the students and me to explore our creative dreams.