Larry Geffin’s classroom is a remarkable mix of serious work and genial patter. He holds forth on “kids today” or on the way he would fix the world’s problems if he were given just twenty-four hours of absolute power. While he keeps things relaxed, the work in his studio is focused and often intense. Larry loves the physicality of art; he wants students to know the feel of pencil on paper or of brush on canvas. That clear point of contact between maker and material is where the magic happens. Larry’s students have found that point. Anyone can see that in their concentration and in the quality of their work. Anyone can see that they have an extraordinary teacher.
Since his student days, Larry has given over thirty-five years to Commonwealth and so is the ultimate insider. But he has been indispensable because he knows both sides of many of the school’s inherent tensions. Most notably, he was a working class kid from Dorchester in a school with a Harvard Square culture; an art teacher in a highly academic place; and a man with old-fashioned notions of responsibility in a school that can be too casual with deadlines—when Larry accepts a job you can bet it will be done thoroughly and early.
Larry’s dual perspective has made Commonwealth a better school for all of its students. He has conceived and implemented many of the initiatives that have made the school more inclusive: advising students on summer opportunities; securing some $45,000 annually in scholarships for students’ projects and summer travel; dreaming up the Entering Commonwealth early intervention program to forestall the bruising that a first semester can give to students who arrive with shaky preparation; and, most recently, establishing the Homework Project for students for whom the structure of an evening study hall will mean the difference between staying on top of work and playing perpetual catch-up. Thanks to Larry, all students feel that the school is theirs. We are now much closer to being able to ensure that an opportunity available to any Commonwealth student is available to every Commonwealth student.
All who stay in touch with the School through Larry know directly how intensely he cares about his students, advisees, and the School, and they catch his passion. When I travel with him (if you travel with Larry make sure your watch is running two minutes fast) I sit back in awe as I watch him tell alumni and friends in Phoenix, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York about the progress we’ve made, and about the promise ahead. The epidemic of support and goodwill for the School and for our work owes as much to Larry as to anyone.
Larry is at Commonwealth because of Charles Merrill’s commitment to giving access to students from all walks of life. That commitment has become his own, and with as sure a touch as he gives his calligraphy brush on paper, Larry finds that point of contact between maker and material, between vision and possibility, and he makes magic happen.Larry—Tiens!
Since his student days, Larry has given over thirty-five years to Commonwealth and so is the ultimate insider. But he has been indispensable because he knows both sides of many of the school’s inherent tensions. Most notably, he was a working class kid from Dorchester in a school with a Harvard Square culture; an art teacher in a highly academic place; and a man with old-fashioned notions of responsibility in a school that can be too casual with deadlines—when Larry accepts a job you can bet it will be done thoroughly and early.