By Anne Gaughen

Janet Kawada ’73 has spent nearly two decades exploring the nature of home and the ways in which we carry experiences, people, and physical materials to forge connection with our surroundings.

“I wasn’t an art major to begin with,” she shares. At Lasell, Kawada pursued a medical secretary associate’s degree and began her career at New England Medical Center. In her 30s, she went back to school to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from MassArt, and later a Master of Fine Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts. “Life takes a lot of twists and turns,” she says, explaining that her education at Lasell “gave me a lot of skills and confidence that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I wouldn’t change a thing about my path.”

Her time at MassArt led her to a 25-year teaching career working in the 3D fine arts department as a fiber artist and professor. Recently, her works have been installed in nature, ranging from boats made from metal screening and fashioned into origami shapes to several installations in parks and forests that feel both other-worldly and deeply organic. In 2017, she curated an exhibition at Lasell’s Wedeman Gallery, presenting five artists answering the question “Is This Something?” by examining the intersection of art and everyday objects that we might otherwise overlook.

Deborah Baldizar, associate professor of art and graphic design, hopes that students and alumni alike learn from Kawada, who recently made a gift to enhance the ceramics program at Lasell with new equipment and studio renovations.

“Her artwork highlights creative collaboration, generosity, and connection,” says Baldizar. “Her 2021 Lasell UBelong mural dedication, and support of the ceramics program in general, means so much to Lasell students and faculty.”

Kawada believes in the cycle and power of giving back. “I hope that [the community] pays attention: to the world around you, to the kindness that we need in the world, to the connection we all have.”

“At my age, you look back at everything that had an impact on your life. Lasell started me on a trajectory that I wouldn’t change,” she says. She hopes the community will continue to support the arts at Lasell in a profound way. “The arts are the things that feed your soul, and that’s what makes us human.”