Artist Lauren Verdugo Spends January at George School

As a visiting artist, Lauren Verdugo experienced every aspect of the George School experience from days in the woodshop, friendly faces in the dining hall, and snowy winter weather.

“I am super grateful to be here,” Lauren reflected. “The community that is built here is really refreshing.”

Southern California-native Lauren Verdugo’s work ranges from furniture to sculpture, mixing elements of wood, found objects, steel, glue and cardboard. With training from Chaffey College (AA in Arts and Humanities), San Diego State University (BA in Applied Design), and Cal State Long Beach (currently pursuing their MFA), Lauren blends formal woodworking concepts with core ideas of modernism and their identity as a queer, non-binary, Latine artist and furniture maker.

“The title of the show is meant to draw attention to how the trees in urban areas of Los Angeles and its suburbs are home to trees that most people do not know if they’re invasive or not,” Lauren detailed. “The idea is to put these woods together and reconfigure that again.”

In addition to showcasing their work, Lauren connected with students in the woodshop. They presented how to inlay different contrasting woods to create a clock setting, and instructed in both Carter Sio ’76 and Amedo Salamoni’s art classes. In their free time, Lauren carved a few seats, a lamp, and two clocks in the woodshop, taking advantage of all the natural wood George School has access to due to its expansive acreage of trees.  

“The access that these kids have to college-level studios is super impressive.” Lauren said. “It is great to see students not only engaged with what they’re learning, but also contribute what they are interested in.”

“I think that it’s important to be curious about the world and constantly ask questions about things, so I try to have that in my work.” Learn more about Lauren and their work here.