“Who is the guy in carpool who’s always smiling?” - a text that a faculty member recently received from a parent.

Mr. Bryn Gillette, upper school visual arts teacher, not only greets families with a smile during his early morning carpool role but also directs upper school students to Christ daily in his classroom through intentional rhythms and the reminder that their art is an act of worship.

What brings you joy when you're navigating carpool responsibilities at 7:15 a.m.?

I grew up outside playing in the woods, so any morning I can be outside in the fresh air watching the sunrise is a good day!  It brings me joy to help my brothers and sisters navigate safely through carpool, and I'm always grateful for the many kind and smiling faces waving at me as they pass through my intersection.

This year’s theme verses invite us to “rejoice always.” What’s something you can rejoice about today?

I spent years struggling with mental health and tormented by comparison and perceived failure and insufficiency. I actively pursue and protect contentment in my life as the fruit of God's presence and my identity in Christ.

In your classroom, how do you encourage your students to live out the core values of CCS? 

My visual art classes are a unique environment where creativity, emotion, spirituality and imagination can naturally intersect, which provides a rich culture to highlight the core value of "Love God.” My students recite our studio mission statement each class: "We will host Christ's presence in a safe studio space of artistic growth." We also include meaningful spiritual discussions led by students each day called "Hot Bread,” encouraging students to approach our art-making as an act of worship. Recently, Senior Perry Brown, an AP Art student, shared the following with me: "I was telling one of my church friends about you and explaining ‘hot bread.’ She stopped me and asked if the class was a Bible class or an art class specifically on Christianity. I was initially confused as to why she would think that. That interaction made me reflect on AP Art as a whole, and it made me all the more grateful to see from a different perspective how well [Mr. Gillette] synthesizes God into an art class." 

If you weren’t a teacher, how would you spend your days?

When I'm on summer break, I get to rearrange the order and schedule of my day, and I delight in sharing travels and rock climbing with my family, painting and writing in my home studio, and using my artistic platform to teach and speak. With a blank check, I would travel more broadly with family to paint my way around the world, and we would enjoy hiking and rock climbing adventures. But even now, I am firing on all cylinders and have each of these spheres exercised. That's why the Gillette family is thriving here at CCS!

Tell us a little bit about the live painting you and your students created at Windy Gap this year.

At Windy Gap, I have the opportunity to act as a “visual scribe,” using my artistic gift to visualize what the Holy Spirit is impressing upon me from the speaker’s message. Students regularly share that having something to watch helps them concentrate on the message and seeing the painting afterwards brings back to their mind what the Lord was speaking to them uniquely at Windy Gap. This year, two AP Art students, Seniors Harper Youngerman and Kea Gillette, my daughter, joined me on stage to collaborate in the painting. It quickly became evident that they were the real leaders. Both young women are incredibly spiritually mature and equally visually literate, able to fluently translate what they feel and imagine into paint and color. The two students did the majority of all four paintings during four different sessions. Harper and Kea also boldly stood up in front of their peers and articulated a powerful message from the Lord in the form of the paintings. The four paintings will be on display in the upper school this year as a reminder of our time at Windy Gap and how the Lord moved and spoke to our community.