For senior Paxton Hilgendorff, his four years at Colgate University have taken him places he could have never imagined. Originally from Sparta, N.J., the double major in environmental studies and studio art can be found most days in either Little Hall or at the Paul J. Schupf ’58 Studio Arts Center in downtown Hamilton. Four years ago, though, Hilgendorff entered Colgate planning to study environmental economics.
While his path was not straightforward, Hilgendorff ended up discovering what he loved along the way.
“I took [microeconomics], and that was the end of that,” Hilgendorff said. “My [first-year seminar] actually was Eco-Art. My professor asked me towards the end, ‘You’re going to be an art major, right?’ I was like, ‘No. That’s never happening. You’re never going to see me as an art major.’ Then I had a semester where I didn’t take any studio art classes, and it was the worst semester ever. I was so bored all the time — I had no creative outlet. Junior fall, I was like, ‘Okay, this is something I actually want to do.’”
Junior year proved to be momentous for Hilgendorff’s time at Colgate, as it was also when he first met Professor of Art DeWitt Godfrey, whom Hilgendorff connected with on a personal level during his time in his sculpture course.
“We just got along so well. He started making fun of me in class and whatnot, and then I got an email from him — we were talking about classes for [the] fall, and he emails me … He was like ‘do you want to come work in my studio with me?’” Hilgendorff said. “There was no hesitation.”
Hilgendorff took his experience from the summer after his junior year and propelled it into further experiences in the art world.
“One thing led to another, and last fall, I got to go to California with [Godfrey] to install a sculpture,” Hilgendorff said.
This year, Hilgendorff began working part-time alongside Godfrey and fellow senior Georgia Banner. Next year, both will return to Colgate to work full-time on Godfrey’s team, a position they will hold for a year.
Hilgendorff’s time in the art department has allowed him to connect with both his passion for the environment and the greater Hamilton community. For his senior project class, in which Hilgendorff could create whatever art he liked, he chose to blend his two interests, resulting in what he deems his favorite piece, “Husk.” The piece is the largest Hilgendorff ever made and took him the entire semester to produce. In the creation of the work, Hilgendorff used the social media app Nextdoor to solicit scrap metal donations from Hamilton residents.
“It’s the front of a car. I wanted all of the metal pieces branching off of it to feel like vines and natural sticks and branches,” Hilgendorff said. “The idea was that it was this abandoned car that nature had taken back over — and was using it to grow and to thrive. The idea was nature retaking, overtaking manmade things — how nature will always win, almost.”
The experience of producing his own work differed dramatically from Hilgendorff’s previous experiences doing installations of Godfrey’s work.
“[Godfrey] has plans and pieces of paper that show all of the connections, and then you just find them, like putting a puzzle back together,” Hilgendorff said. “[Godfrey’s sculpture] was very formal, and there was a path and a way to do it. And [Husk] was me doing whatever I wanted, which was really cool. It’s cool being on both sides — how random making [Husk] was, but how precise Godfrey’s work was. There’s a nice balance to it.”
With much of his art being too large to transport long distances, Hilgendorff has also turned to the Hamilton community as a home for his work.
“There’s this one lady who gave me an old lawnmower, and then I took these pieces off, and she wants it in her yard,” Hilgendorff said. “I would love to keep it somewhere, but I can’t bring this home. It weighs 300 pounds.”
While Hilgendorff acknowledged his unique interest in art, he encouraged all Colgate students to find ways to expand the way they think during their time on campus.
“I think people get so focused on STEM or whatever their major is that they don’t do something that they just enjoy for themselves. I’ve really just enjoyed making stuff, even if it wasn’t for class — just having the ability to use my brain in different ways,” Hilgendorff said. “It’s such a different part of your brain that I think everybody should always be doing something creative.”
Reflecting on his journey at Colgate, Hilgendorff recognized the many turns that his path has taken him on, but shared that he was ultimately grateful for these changes.
“Two years ago, if you told me I’d be working for a sculptor, I would have told you you were insane. I’d be at some environmental consulting firm — that does not sound fun,” Hilgendorff said. “It’s definitely a risk, doing that creative side, but when you do figure it out, it’s so much more rewarding because it’s something you enjoy.”
