Last Thursday and Friday, guest speaker Chan Lowe, award winning political cartoonist from the Sun Sentinel newspaper, held multiple master classes for Pine Crest students. The talented artist spoke to students about the process of creating cartoons and the amount of thought that goes into each drawing. Mr. Lowe commented, “As a cartoonist and commentator, my role is to inform, educate, and hopefully to persuade.”

Mr. Lowe has been working for the Sun-Sentinel since 1984. With a degree in Art History from Williams College and a John S. Knight journalism fellowship at Stanford University, Mr. Lowe embarked on a career in editorial cartoon journalism, winning multiple awards including the National Press Foundation’s Berryman Award. The New York Times and the Washington Post are two of the many publications that have featured Mr. Lowe’s work.

During the master classes, Mr. Lowe shared a few of his cartoons and encouraged open discussions about the subject of the political drawings. Pine Crest students shared their thoughts, demonstrating the eclectic array of opinions among the student body.

Mr. Lowe explained, “When we arrive at a sincerely-held opinion, it is the result of processing our surroundings through our own individual prism. That prism is constructed out of our upbringing, background, education and life experiences. For a democracy to work as intended, we need to respect all sincerely-held opinions. That way, as we seek solutions to our problems, we are better able to arrive at ones that all of us can live with. The system breaks down when we denigrate or disrespect the opinions of others because we happen to disagree with them. If the opinions of others are ignored, we create a disaffected segment of society whose stake in the American dream is diminished.”

Students in English, history, and art classes took part in these master class seminars. Art history student and junior Arielle Rozencwaig felt that the class very beneficial to her studies in Art History. “He mentioned that art history was a really useful course for him because it taught him how to analyze and think critically whereas many courses just give you knowledge that you can only apply to one subject. That gave me a really interesting viewpoint on how to approach the course.”

Overall, the experience for students was invaluable. Mr. Lowe’s clever cartoons initiated interesting debates, and students were divided on certain issues. Nevertheless, the participation of students in the discussions was the result that Mr. Lowe was looking for. Through his cartoons, Mr. Lowe is able to encourage discussion about controversial topics. Mr. Lowe stated, “I try to remember that we are all Americans, and we only differ in the methods we prefer to achieve the goal of perfecting the country we love.”