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Living a Life in Art

DATE: Tuesday, May 5, 2026

TIME: 7:30 pm EDT ( 6:30 pm CST, 5:30 pm MST, 4:30 pm PST)

The Oberlin Alumni Classes of 1967-‘72 invite you to join this "Road to the Future" virtual Zoom session to hear four Oberlin studio art majors from the early 1970’s share their stories, show examples of their artwork, and explain how attending Oberlin College affected their decision to major in studio art and impacted their careers and their art.  Find out why these Oberlin alumni chose to live a life in art.

The Artists:
Reid Wood ‘70
Naomi Nemtzow ‘71
Pete Sowiski ’71
Vin Grabill ‘71
Phil Koch ’70 – Due to prior commitments, Phil can’t join in. However, his bio and art links are included.

~ REGISTER ~

Bios:

Reid Wood '70 (b. 1948) is a visual artist who has worked in a variety of media, including drawing, printmaking, sculpture, collage, artists books, mail art, digital imaging, and performance art. He earned BA and MA degrees in Studio Art from Oberlin College, with additional study at Kent State University, Akron University, and the Visual Studies Workshop. He holds the rank of Emeritus Professor of Art at Lorain County Community College where he taught for 40 years. He also served for a number of years on the board of FAVA (The Firelands Association for the Visual Arts) in Oberlin and was chair of the Exhibition Committee where he curated 19 exhibitions. As an artist he has shown his work regionally, nationally and internationally since 1975, and examples of his work can be found in several public and private collections and archives, both here and abroad. In 2010 he was awarded a residency in Venice by the Emily Harvey Foundation. His work in digital collage can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and his blog :  havent-gardeart.blogspot.com

Naomi Nemtzow '71 (b.1949) is a visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Nemtzow earned her BA in Studio Art at Oberlin College in 1971, then completed 2 years of intensive study at the New York Studio School. In 1976, she earned an MFA in Painting at American University. Nemtzow has been affiliated with Bowery Gallery since 1979, an artist-run space in New York City. She has had 13 solo shows there, most recently in March 2026, and has been included in numerous group shows. Her work has also been shown in various other galleries and museums in the US and UK.  For many years, Nemtzow worked representationally and was best known for her gritty urban landscapes which balanced direct visual perception with abstract compositional analysis. In 2020 during Covid lockdown, Nemtzow stopped depicting the outside world. Her current work begins with abstract composition, built of cut and painted paper, layered with graphic elements. This recent work has no representational intent. Strange creatures, machines, and combinations thereof emerge unbidden from the visual elements. Links:  Naomi Nemtzow ; Nemtzow 2026 — Bowery Gallery Work from most recent show https://www.artsy.net/search?term=naomi%20nemtzow; Search Results for 'naomi nemtzow' | Artsy

Peter Sowiski '71 was born in 1949 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He received a BA in 1971 in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in 1974 in Printmaking from Ohio State University.  He is primarily known as a pulp painter, with work in numerous collections in America.  Over the last fifty years he has shown in over two hundred exhibitions, and held over eighty-five workshops, lectures and visiting artist posts locally to internationally. Peter is an Emeritus Professor of Fine Arts at Buffalo State University, where he taught from 1974- 2007, did stints as Chair of Fine Arts, of Design, and received the President’s Award for Excellence in Service to the College. He investigated papermaking in Korea, China and Vietnam, and served three terms as President of The Friends of Dard Hunter, Inc., an international organization of hand papermakers. He has worked at Abaca Press as chief screen printer since its inception in 1994. Since retiring, he continues working for Abaca Press and messing up his studio in Buffalo.
Website: petersowiski.com

Vin Grabill '71 received his B.A. degree in Studio Art from Oberlin College in 1971 and a Master of Science in Visual Studies degree from the M.I.T. Center For Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) in 1981. Vin continued an association with CAVS as a research fellow from 1981-1994, participating in many projects and documenting events and performances of CAVS artists and fellows. After teaching video art at the Massachusetts College of Art from 1984-1988, he joined the faculty of the UMBC Department of Visual Arts in 1988 where he taught video art and film history until retiring in 2020. Vin served as chairperson of the department from 2008-2015.  Vin has exhibited works in painting, sculpture, video art and digital still formats since 1980. His single channel and installation video works have been exhibited nationally and internationally.  In addition to pursuing his own work in video, Vin has collaborated on video projects with numerous poets, choreographers, and musicians. Websites: https://bakerartist.org/portfolios/vingrabill  (video art website);       https://www.flickr.com/photos/vgrabill/albums  (painting website)

Philip Koch '70: Entering Oberlin College as a Freshman, Philip found himself repeatedly visiting the school’s Allen Memorial Art Museum. He was surprised at how the art and the museum itself left him feeling both invigorated and calmed. That and the Art History 101 he was taking had him hooked. Originally an abstract artist, Philip Koch was inspired by the work of Edward Hopper to change to painting in a realist direction. Koch has been given unprecedented access to Hopper’s studio on Cape Cod, enjoying 17 residencies there since 1983, an honor granted to no other living American artist. He is an emeritus professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Koch’s grandfather was the inventor of the original Kodachrome color film process. He is the great grandson of the Scottish landscape painter John Wallace. Koch also likes cats. Website: http://philipkoch.org/

2023 Photos

Did you have a chance to attend our 55^th Cluster Reunion during Homecoming Weekend 2023? Below we see a moment with President Carmen Twillie Ambar and Walt Galloway '69 during the Saturday evening dinner, part of an extensive collection of pictures by College photographers. If you have photos or memories to share, be sure to post them on this website or on the Cluster website at www.obie676869.com.

2028 Cluster Reunion
This announcement duplicates one on the Class of 1968 website.

For those of us who are daring enough to plan ahead at this stage of our lives, I am offering a slightly vague "Save the Date" announcement about our 60th reunion.

Yes, there will be a 60th reunion.

Yes, the reunion will include the classes of '67-'69.

Yes, it will be in the Fall of 2028, either the last weekend or the next to the last weekend in October (27-29 or 20-22). See what I mean by slightly vague?

Maybe some of the activities wiil be streamed.

No, there will probably not be on campus lodging. We will work on finding our own

Yes, there will be accomodations for accessibility needs, that you can remind the yet-to-be-formed planning committtee to consider.

I hope this helps somewhat in planning something for the future.

Paul Safyan