Isabelle Camoin ’26

by Isabelle Camoin ’26 on November 20, 2025

The Humanities Forum hosted Bruce Herman on Friday, Nov. 14, where he presented a talk titled “Makers by Nature: Art, Hospitality, and Hope.” The event was held in Ruane 105, right beside Herman’s artwork, which is a recent addition to the lecture hall. 

The Humanities Forum is an ongoing lecture series that takes place weekly, usually on Fridays at 3:30 p.m. It is an opportunity to continue learning outside of the classroom from professors in different subject areas. 

Herman began his presentation by showing a film one of his students created. Participants got a glimpse into his life as an artist and how he is constantly awe-inspired by nature. After the video, Herman introduced three sub-themes;  art, hospitality, and hope, explaining that incarnation and an unguarded gaze are important aspects of being able to participate in the three main themes put forth. The unguarded gaze is necessary for viewing art, as Herman emphasized that a work of art is incomplete without the viewer, and that a gaze, open to what the piece has to reveal, can find deeper meaning. When posed with the question, “Is there such a thing as bad art?” Herman replied in a nuanced fashion, sharing that while he knows there is such a thing as bad people, bad art is harder to classify. This is why the unguarded gaze is essential, letting down your guard to see that:

 “And the End of all our exploring 
Will be to arrive where we started 
And know the place for the first time.” 

A quote shared by Herman from T.S. Elliot, embodying the experience of the unguarded gaze as something that opens us up to new meaning and finding meaning in art, vulnerably building on its creation. 

He continued by guiding participants through memories of his life, including memories of encountering forms and having experienced moments akin to divine revelation. One jarring story was that of his home, which he and his wife built alongside other members of their community in Massachusetts. Their home was struck by lightning not too long after; everything burned, except for his three paintings from the Golgotha series. The Golgotha series was inspired by Good Friday, and the paintings were the first works Herman made after his conversion to Christianity.  

Reflecting on how he creates his work, Herman provided insight into what he does as a full-time maker. He emphasized that, at times, the work tends to make itself by way of a muse, which is an experience of the spirit that fills you. Herman claimed that as human beings, we are all born artists, some of us have just forgotten. The journey of our lives is something that continues to be broken and put back together. 

Encompassing the themes of hospitality and incarnation, Herman called participants’ attention to the original Greek definition of symbol. Tessera hospitalis means “symbol” in Greek. This symbol is a tiny tile formed as a handshake that gets broken; one half is offered to newcomers into the home as a form of welcoming. Guests are officially welcomed into the home once the tiles are put back together, and they are incarnated into a new meaning of hospitality that has been extended to them. For Herman, this is representative of our lives: humans are constantly broken to be put back together again. His works of art are a constant process of starting and restarting. Embodying this notion in his teaching, Herman said that in order for students to pass his class, he must learn one thing from them. 
Herman concluded his presentation by putting forth that everyone should embrace their ability to be a maker. This way of life is work that brings beauty, goodness, and truth together.