What Remains…

‘What Remains…’ Historic Hampton House

Julie Levesque — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 04:56:46 +0000

‘What Remains…’
Historic Hampton House

Artist Notes: Historic Hampton House

‘What Remains…’
Mixed media installation
2002 – Remixed in 2025
20′ x 27′ (dimensions variable)

Notes
Exhibited in ‘No Room. No Vacancy.‘ at The Historic Hampton House Museum of Art & Culture in Miami Florida December 2025 – September 2026.

Due to its size and complexity, ‘What Remains…’ can be reconfigured to respond to any given space. 11 desks and chairs are ‘normal’ and 9 have been altered to make visible the emotional state of the child that might have sat there. Encrusted books and pencils are carefully placed throughout. Directional fluorescent lighting is coming from the ‘blackboard’ area and there are the school pictures (marble dust on vellum).

Julie Levesque

‘What Remains…’ Portraits

Julie Levesque — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 02:42:06 +0000

‘What Remains…’
Portraits

The artist is offering commissions to create your second grade portrait. If desired, it will be included with these portraits of the What Remains… online classroom. Please inquire.

Artist Notes: Portraits

‘What Remains… Portraits’
sand on vellum
2023
33 x 24 inches

Eight second grade student portraits float on the walls of the room. They hold the optimism and innocence that balances the difficult passage that is the second grade.

The first one is of me. It is the only image I have of myself experience from this time. I see it much differently since I made this piece.

Created with white sand on vellum, these ethereal portraits appear differently depending on where you are in the room. As you move about, the reflection from the light can illuminate the smooth vellum and the texture of the sand appears darker creating a negative (reverse) image.

Julie Levesque

desk-split chair

Julie Levesque — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 23:30:45 +0000

gallery

‘What Remains…’ Winsmith Mills

Julie Levesque — Wed, 03 May 2023 21:58:17 +0000

‘What Remains…’
Winsmith Mills

Artist Notes: Winsmith Mill Installation

‘What Remains…’
Mixed media installation
2002
Dimensions variable

Details…
• 12 child-sized desks and chairs – 5 are ‘normal’, 7 are altered
• Books and pencils encrusted with marble dust and white sand
• Fluorescent lighting creates directional lighting from the ‘blackboard’
• White erasers and chalk rest on a ‘blackboard’ tray

Notes
Twelve desks and chairs (of the original twenty) were installed at Winsmith Mills, Norwood, MA. The old wood floors of this 18th Century mill lent a reality of my experience of a 1960’s second grade classroom.

Due to its size and complexity, ‘What Remains…’ can be reconfigured to respond to any given space. 11 desks and chairs are ‘normal’ and 9 have been altered to make visible the emotional state of the child that might have sat there. Encrusted books and pencils are carefully placed throughout. Missing here are the directional fluorescent lighting coming from the ‘blackboard’ area and the school pictures (marble dust on vellum) that would be on the walls. But as the artist, I welcome the chance to make the piece integral to a new space.

Julie Levesque

‘What Remains…’ Provincetown

Julie Levesque — Tue, 02 May 2023 14:31:34 +0000

‘What Remains…’
Provincetown

Artist Notes: Provincetown Installation

‘What Remains…’
Mixed media installation
2002
25′ x 30′ (dimensions variable)

Details…
• 20 child-sized desks and chairs – 11 are ‘normal’, 9 are altered
• Books and pencils encrusted with marble dust and white sand
• Fluorescent lighting creates directional lighting from the ‘blackboard’
• White erasers and chalk rest on a ‘blackboard’ tray
• 8 prints of second grade school pictures – marble dust and white sand on vellum
• 25′ x 30′ as installed in Provincetown

Notes
In 2001 I won 1st prize in the Provincetown Art Association and Museum’s Annual Invitational Exhibition. As a result, I was offered a solo exhibition in a large museum gallery. ‘What Remains…’ was created for that space.

At its core, this piece is about retrieving a moment in time and examining the evidence around an event that changed the fabric of who I was at the time.

At this moment in my 2nd second grade class, I was humiliated for not coming up with the precise answer the teacher expected. Standing at my desk while others sat, I made an unconscious decision that it was more beneficial to disappear than it was to stand out – to seek out what I was supposed to think rather than think myself – an unfortunate decision for a young artist. In creating this piece I am reclaiming that act, honoring it and reversing it.

My 2nd grade experience is rooted in a 1960’s theory of how students should be taught at the time. A great deal has changed and that gives me hope. But there are still children that have difficulty…there is no escaping the second grade.

At the talk and at the opening, people were bursting with their elementary school experiences. Each choosing the desk that was ‘theirs’, suppressed memories tumbled out about their young minds grappling with fending for themselves for the first time in a new environment and the realization that their participation was mandatory.

I am honored to have touched on something so universal from a deeply personal memory. It is my hope that this piece will continue to spark memories, dialogue and change.

Julie Levesque