When imagination beckons

Eight staff artists are highlighted in their residences, studios, and workspaces.

Images and video by Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

Niles Singer

Harvard Staff Photographer

March 20, 2025

8 min read

Harvard staff nurture skills that prosper beyond the gates

Nearly 300 skilled artists from the University are showcasing their creations at the Harvard Staff Art Show. Established as a platform for staff to express their creativity to the wider community, the exhibition is now entering its fifth consecutive year. Below are profiles of eight of these remarkable artists who were eager to discuss their work.

Scott Murry

Designer, Illustrator, and Photographer

Senior Designer, Harvard Library

Scott Murry, Digital Illustrator and Senior Designer at the Harvard Library, is captured in his apartment in Jamaica Plain. — Scott Murry in his apartment.

Part of a collection of monoline-style digital illustrations concerning mental wellness developed during the pandemic, Scott Murry described his “Find Yourself” as a piece that focuses on “contemplating your identity with purpose.”

Murry’s passion for the visual arts blossomed in ninth and tenth grades, through educators who encouraged and pushed him to excel. He attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Art Institute of Boston and was “enthusiastic about editorial illustration and children’s book illustration” before taking on various positions at design firms, in environmental design, and at the Weekly Dig.

Nowadays, Murry is purposefully utilizing his time, sketching, designing, engaging in concert photography, self-publishing a children’s book, and developing a photo book of his son, Elliott. He is particularly thrilled about the design potential of the double Ls and double Ts in his son’s name.

Scott Murry, Digital Illustrator and Senior Designer for the Harvard Library, sketches in his home office. — Murry creates a drawing from his series that states, “Have hope it will be better.” The artwork relates to something from the pandemic or politics, reflecting a sentiment of feeling broken, akin to discovering your vehicle on cinder blocks with a shattered windshield, an experience I can relate to with my own car.

Scott Murry, Digital Illustrator and Senior Designer at the Harvard Library, organizes pairs of custom Vans shoes showcasing his printed designs. — Pairs of custom Vans shoes adorned with Murry’s designs.

Eve Radovsky

Cabinet and Furniture Artisan

Faculty Assistant, Harvard Law School

Eve Radovsky, Faculty Assistant at Harvard Law School, woodworker, and crafter poses for a photo with a cabinet she crafted. — Eve Radovsky displays the cabinet featured in this year’s Staff Art Show.

In 2018, Eve Radovsky began a full-time program specializing in cabinet and furniture design. “I have always deeply appreciated furniture design and have enjoyed engaging my hands,” she expressed. Her white-oak and maple creation in the exhibition drew inspiration from an image of a blanket chest crafted by Thomas Dennis in the 17th century.

Radovsky employed carving gouges to shape sections of wood on the front and used small metal stamps to create the background. She further applied various shades of stains to give the piece an “aged” appearance, simulating the more hazardous process of fuming.

Additionally, she is an avid knitter, having pursued the craft for over ten years and is currently working on a sweater for herself.

A close-up of the cabinet created by Eve Radovsky, Faculty Assistant at Harvard Law School, woodworker, and crafter. — The front of her cabinet features hand-carved designs.

Eve Radovsky, Faculty Assistant at Harvard Law School, woodworker, and crafter is depicted knitting while seated in a chair that she constructed herself. — Radovsky knitting while seated in her self-made chair.

Yuwei Li

Illustrator

Neurotechnology Engineer, The Center for Brain Science

Yuwei Li enjoys illustrating adorable animals, including her budgie, Lou, who passed away just before Thanksgiving. For her, “drawing is a means to unwind and find joy,” and the artwork she selected to showcase is intended to serve as a reminder of her pet and to express gratitude for the time they shared.

“This is actually based on a picture I took with my phone … One day, he was just winking at me. I managed to capture that moment on my camera.”

Li, seen working in the Center for Brain Science’s machine shop located in Harvard’s Northwest Building, employs her skills in her profession to design and manufacture equipment for around 40 different laboratories. Her latest after-hours endeavor — inspired by “Star Wars” enthusiasts encountered at Comic Con in San Diego — is a 3-D printed, full-scale replica of R2-D2, which she aspires to attach to wheels for transporting her tools.

Yuwei Li, Neurotechnology Engineer at the Center for Brain Science and illustrator, solders while working on a project for her job. — Li solders a project for her role in the machine shop.

Yuwei Li, Neurotechnology Engineer at the Center for Brain Science and illustrator, holds a 3-D printed model she created of R2-D2’s head from Star Wars. — Li is assembling her 3-D R2-D2 component piece by piece.

Veronica Bagnole

Needleworker

Digital Project Coordinator, Harvard Graduate School of Design

For Veronica Bagnole, needlework is a tranquil and historically significant craft. When she’s not managing the GSD’s website and leading a team of 100 content editors, she dedicates her time to embroidery projects that can require hundreds of hours to finish.

Bagnole’s artwork depicts a woman from the late 18th to early 19th century, whose image she crafted from AI-generated pictures that she adapted for an outline before adding depth during the approximately 250 to 300 hours it took for the embroidery process.

“When viewers encounter this piece, I want them to contemplate, ‘Who is that woman? What inspired her portrait?’”

Bagnole believes that embroidery deserves greater acknowledgment not only as a craft but also as a significant historical art form that allows one to honor and “connect with the generations that came before us.”

Veronica Bagnole, Digital Project Coordinator for the Harvard Graduate School of Design and needleworker, points to the gold necklace she improvised from the original design she created for this embroidery piece. — The golden chain is one of several intricate details Bagnole enhanced on her own.

Veronica Bagnole (shown), Digital Project Coordinator for the Harvard Graduate School of Design and needleworker, showcasing several antique embroidery scissors she collects. — Four pairs of 19th and early 20th-century embroidery scissors from Bagnole’s collection. She refers to them as “Lovely small pieces of history.”

Stanislav Karachev

Dancer and Lyricist

Energy Performance Engineer, Harvard Medical School

When Stanislav Karachev received an invitation to perform at an event in New Hampshire, he recognized the opportunity to create something spectacular. He ultimately crafted the performance showcased in this year’s art exhibit, blending poetry, music, and dance to convey his emotions during a separation.

Karachev made the choice to integrate a mirror and interact with the spectators throughout the performance. “People often assume that when you’re performing a solo, it’s entirely about the performer. However, it’s not just about the dancer; it’s about the audience and the bond formed between the performer and the spectators.”

With assistance from a neighbor employed at Harvard, Karachev recorded his poem and produced his accompaniment track. He selected krump as his dance style due to its vibrant energy, but he had never previously exerted himself to his maximum capability before a show. Karachev expressed amazement at the limits of his intensity: “I had no idea I could move like that.”

Stanislav Karachev, Energy Performance Engineer for Harvard Medical School, dancer, and poet, posing for a photo in his apartment in Roxbury. — The essence of an artist.

A photo of the notebook Stanislav Karachev uses to write his poetry open to the page with the poem performed in “My Mirror.” Stanislav is an Energy Performance Engineer for Harvard Medical School, dancer, and poet. — A page from Karachev’s poetry journal.

John Buonomo

Astrophotographer

Senior Cloud Architect, Harvard University Health Services

John Buonomo’s initial ventures into astrophotography date back to 1978. This self-educated creator shared that his fascination began at the age of 9 when a neighbor introduced him to the view of Jupiter and Saturn through a refractor telescope. Though Buonomo’s early film photographs with a manual tracking telescope were less than ideal, the introduction of digital technology “revolutionized everything.”

Currently, Buonomo employs specialized cooled astro CCD cameras, premium optics, auto-guiding systems, and computer-assisted scripting to produce his captures. After obtaining an image, he utilizes advanced software to stack various exposures and modify additional settings to unveil subtle structures. He describes the union of technical expertise and artistic insight as “the essence of what makes astrophotography both challenging and incredibly fulfilling.”

Arched-Rock---Goat-Rock-Beach--Jenner-Caif. — Arched Rock at Goat Rock Beach in Jenner, California.

Photo Courtesy of John Buonomo

John Buonomo, Senior Cloud Architect and astrophotographer, looking through one of the telescopes at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics. — Buonomo is gazing through the Clark Telescope at the Harvard College Observatory.

Toru Nakanishi

Photographer and Sculptor

Exhibition Production Specialist at the Harvard Art Museums

Toru Nakanishi’s passion for photography ignited during his college years when he began producing monochrome images in a darkroom. However, after losing access to a darkroom and finding it unreasonable to invest in a digital camera, he began creating images using a flatbed scanner.

This year’s exhibition features one of Nakanishi’s flatbed scans of ramen noodles. To craft his images, Nakanishi placed the noodles on the scanner and extinguished all lights to achieve a black backdrop. For other works, “I constructed a flatbed scanner with a glass top. One can fill it with water and float the objects inside to scan.”

This showcased photograph is a fragment of a broader noodle series, with one piece already housed in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Toru Nakanishi, Exhibition Production Specialist at the Harvard Art Museums, photographer, and sculptor showing two of his sculptures in his apartment in Somerville, MA. — Nakanishi also carves in timber.

Toru Nakanishi, Exhibition Production Specialist at the Harvard Art Museums, photographer, and sculptor presenting the photograph that will be featured in the Staff Art Show. — Nakanishi displays the photograph that he is showcasing in the Staff Art Show.

Fionnuala Gerrity

Ceramic Artist

Restoration Technician at Harvard Library Preservation Services

Fionnuala Gerrity first engaged with ceramics as a child but returned to the craft just prior to the pandemic after attending several classes at Indigo Fire in Belmont. They were astonished by the outcome: “I never anticipated it would evolve into a complete portfolio, as an additional endeavor alongside my professional life.”

Currently, “All of my creations are inspired by local forest ecosystems,” Gerrity stated. Utilizing slabs as the main fabrication technique, building the vessel initially, and subsequently incorporating sculpted features, Gerrity strives to represent nature with utmost accuracy. During the photography session, they presented a completed tea set adorned with “three distinct moths that predominantly associate with bitter nut hickory.”

“I cherish the notion that these might encourage individuals to observe a little more closely what’s surrounding them,” Gerrity expressed.

Fionnuala Gerrity, Restoration Technician at Harvard Library Preservation Services and ceramic artist, working on a ceramic piece at Indigo Fire Pottery Studio in Belmont, MA. — Gerrity engaged in a current project.

Fionnuala Gerrity, Restoration Technician at Harvard Library Preservation Services and ceramic artist, concentrating on a piece of ceramics at Indigo Fire Pottery Studio in Belmont, MA. — Gerrity at Indigo Fire in Belmont.