Bouldin “Bo” Burbank Jr. ’55, P’84, ’85, ’87, ’99

DEGREES: B.S., mathematics; M.S., mathematics (Syracuse University)

JOB TITLE: Retired school teacher and coach of over 40 years; artist

FAVORITE TRINITY MEMORIES: The relaxed, comfortable, and down-to-earth feeling of living on campus; fraternity life, the house competitions, and being a Crow brother. During rush week at the Crow House bar, I was asked what I would like to drink, and I said a glass of milk (I didn’t drink alcohol, yet). They thought I was being wisecracker, and it took an extra meeting of the board for me to become a brother! I also met my wife, Ellie, who was visiting from Skidmore College at the Crow House my senior year. Ellie was the date of a fraternity brother, but I knew that night that I would marry her, and I did.

REPORTER: Can you tell us about your teaching career?
BURBANK: I taught mathematics at Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts, for five years, everything from algebra through calculus. I lived in a dormitory with my wife and first son and coached baseball and football. I then received a National Science Foundation Grant to get a master’s degree at Syracuse University. In the fall of 1962 I began teaching at The Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania where I stayed until I retired in 1996. I taught all levels of mathematics and studio arts and chaired both departments during my tenure. I coached varsity swimming, football, baseball, softball, tennis (girls and boys), and squash (girls and boys).

REPORTER: How did you become interested in art?
BURBANK: My aunt, who was an accomplished illustrator, turned me on to drawing when I was six years old. I also loved the book Black Beauty but I was frightened of horses; however, I thought if I drew them over and over my fear would disappear (the strategy was not successful, but I kept drawing). I continued to sketch and paint informally until I attended Trinity, where professor Mitch Pappas had a tremendous impact on me and added to my development as an artist.

REPORTER: After you retired from teaching, did you pursue art as a second career?
BURBANK: I pursued it as an avocation. I have been very active and have had commissioned work, but I don’t paint to sell. It’s very personal.

REPORTER: What materials do you use, and what is your process?
BURBANK: I wouldn’t call my art abstract as much as I would call it interpretive. I scavenge the beach, the junk yard, and everything on and off the path between them and acquire objects to use in sculptures. For paintings, I use house enamel and acrylic paint with all shapes and sizes of brushes—the bigger the better. I use tongue depressors and powdered paint in drawings. I know what ever comes out on my “canvas” has been stored in my memory bank for some time. My process is to make as many quick gestural images of what is on my mind, from doodles to refined sketches on pieces of paper (or on anything really). Then, I attack that feeling on “canvas” without the presence of my earlier sketches. I’m totally consumed by the feeling, and I want to be at one with my current material, therefore I do not want interruptions from previous images.

REPORTER: What do you want audiences to take away from your work?
BURBANK: I don’t want people who view my work to get bogged down in the images or my intended meaning behind them. I want them to interpret through their own ways of seeing. If something excites them, they will continue to explore what they are looking at, otherwise they will move on. I believe art is a way to make a deeper connection to your inner soul.

REPORTER: How have you crossed paths with Trinity since graduating?
BURBANK: Four of my children graduated from Trinity, and many of my former students attended Trinity, among them numerous men and women varsity squash players (including all four of my children). I have attended some squash matches, and I try not to miss when Trinity plays at Harvard. I’m the loud one yelling from the back row. I also attend a few football games and alumni events, most recently our 55th Reunion, where I was the curator of the Class of 1955 art show. The show was well received, and it was quite a thrill to have some of my work shown at Trinity.