While a poster of a dog overlooking Baker Tower is a more light-hearted creation of his to celebrate this year's Winter Carnival, Rael Salley '01 has used art for much of his life as a tool for personal expression and comments on social interaction.
Growing up as an African-American in the primarily Caucasian environment of Allentown, Pa. influenced the designer of this year's Winter Carnival poster and snow sculpture to become interested in social interaction -- and he uses both academics and extracurricular activities to pursue that interest.
"It is a challenge to grow up in that type of area, and you have a different viewpoint on America in general, and on life, than if you grew up in an area where it is more diverse," Salley said.
A double major in studio art and anthropology, Salley said art should make statements on human interaction.
"I truly believe that any kind of work that can be called art is rooted in social occurrence -- it can't be arbitrary," Salley said. "In my mind, the purpose of art is to stimulate a different type of thought."
Salley has created visual artwork including painting, drawing, print-making and some sculpture for 11 years. He studied at both Muhlenberg College and the Governor's School of the Arts in Pennsylvania during high school, and has continued his pursuits at the College.
Salley's contribution to Carnival included not only creating the poster, but serving as the co-chair for the sculpture committee.
In addition to his Winter Carnival creations on display this weekend, Salley's more serious recent work can be viewed in the Collis lounge.
The art coordinator for the Collis Student Center, Salley is the curator of the art display in the lounge, which focus on racism as its theme.
The show, which includes his work and the efforts of four other students, combines poetry, photography, drawings and paintings "to stimulate a different type of thought concerning social actions and cultural awareness," Salley said.
"It just questions the interactions between the ethnic groups on campus, and hopefully stimulates some thought on how situations in regards to social interactions can be improved."
Among the work are four portraits by Salley of male students of African descent at the College. The painting combines the pictures of the students with the influence of sculpted west-African masks, commenting upon what Salley calls "personality masking."
"There's a tendency for black males to alter their personalities to fit the given situation, and that's been going on ever since Africans were brought to this country," Salley said.
He said, for example, that some African-Americans change their speech mannerisms and topics of conversation when they interact with Caucasians.
Salley said many types of people mask their personalities, but he focused on African-Americans because of his own background. He said his art usually comments on his personal experiences.
In addition to working on art, Salley participates in a number of other activities at the College.
He performs sprints, long jump, triple jump and shot-put for the track team, in addition to working at the Help Desk at the Kiewit Computation Center and participating on the Committee on Standards, the Programming Board, the East Wheelock Cluster Peer Review Board and the African-American Society.
Although Salley said it is difficult to always remain stress-free, he juggles his activities through "good scheduling and trying to be as organized as possible."
Salley said he enjoys track because it combines individual performance and teamwork. He also likes being part of the tradition of such an ancient athletic form.
Tradition was also a motivation for Salley to enter the Winter Carnival poster contest.
He said Dartmouth has rich traditions, and he hopes to become part of those traditions while enhancing them so that they do not become stagnant.
