Germantown Academy welcomed back Daniel Lipschutz ’08 to launch its 2024-25 All-School Art Initiative—a community mural outside the Nurse’s Suite in the Health & Wellness Center. Lipschutz, who spoke to each division, shared his journey from a GA student to a field goal kicker at the University of Pennsylvania, to a biomedical engineer, and finally to a community artist and educator helping others discover their creative potential.

With that in mind, Lipschutz gave students a simple instruction: draw what a happy and healthy mind, body, and heart looks like to them. Soon, pages filled with images of family, sports, music, and abstract designs.

“I wanted everyone to think about health and wellness, and their experiences with their body, mind, and heart,” Lipschutz said. “If the whole purpose of the day was to have a clear mind, an excited body, and a full heart, what does that look or feel like?”

Lipschutz plans to incorporate these drawings from students, faculty, and staff into the creative process behind the mural, similar to how he crafted The Living Tree, a piece he completed earlier this year at Mallery Playground in Germantown. According to Lower School Art Coordinator and Co-Director of Art Across the Academy Jess Grisafi, there’s no shortage of inspiration for the mural, which Lipschutz will continue working on with students throughout the year.

“Between the Lower School, Middle School, Upper School, faculty, and staff—as well as participants from Preserve Day—we collected over 3,000 drawings from our community,” Grisafi said. “We are thrilled to have Daniel join us as Artist in Residence this year and look forward to creating a beautiful ‘Mind, Body, and Heart’ mural with everyone.”

Upper School Visual Arts teacher and Co-Director Sarah Kupnick-Ritz added, “Our Honors Art students are excited to work with Daniel to sort through these sketches and develop a thoughtful proposal for the final mural in the Health & Wellness Center. We can’t wait to see his proposal and get started painting.”