Doors give students glimpses into other lives

Peering around a solid oak door strategically placed in Cape Henlopen High School's courtyard March 12, sophomore Melissa Mitchell jotted a few notes.

A painting on one side showed an exchange of a single bill of currency for a bundle of money. The other side showed a woman wallpapering a room with dollar bills.

"It's about foreign trade with China," Melissa said.

Ten other doors stood in the courtyard painted with scenes designed to spark social commentary. Two on display were not quite finished.

All 13 are part of Domiciles, a project by artist Alan Tuttle. His point is to get people thinking and writing, he said.

"We're trying to encourage kids to put down their iPhones and stop tweeting and to start writing," Tuttle said.

Students in English and art classes spent the day reviewing the doors, all with assignments to write what they saw.

"It can be prose, lyrics or songs. There are no rules except it shouldn't be a description of the door. It should be about the people who live behind the doors," Tuttle said.

Notebook in hand, freshman Peyton Medd studied a door with a pile of Barbies painted on one side, and a young woman leaning over a toilet on the other.

"It shows how Barbies are symbolic of perfection, but sometimes that can lead to a life of partying," Peyton said.

Her favorite door was a screen door that depicted a scene looking into a room on one side and looking out of it from the other.

"I think it's really cool. It's creative," she said.

Another door showed a woman slaughtering chickens on one side and a poultry processing plant on the other; it elicited a different observation for Christopher Szczepanski, 16.

"She looks like the mom from 'That '70s Show,'" he said, referring to a woman in the painting who resembles Kitty in the popular TV show.

Tuttle began collecting doors while living in upstate New York.

"I put out an email and a week later had 70 doors at my studios," he said.

He recently built a home in Rehoboth Beach and has set up shop in the area.

Tuttle works in a style of painting using "spill areas" to show fragments of life in front of and behind the doors.

He has pet names for some of them. He refers to a green door – showing a man clipping his lawn with scissors – as the OCD door.

A slotted door showing a child in a closet could have more than one meaning, he said.

"She could be playing house or it could be more sinister," he said.

Tuttle said students had a lot of questions about the doors, but he preferred to give them only enough information to formulate their own opinions.

"I want students to do this on their own and use their imagination," he said.

Art teacher Colleen Lowe said it's good for her students to see art done in a different medium.

"It gives them a chance to see something done in another way," Lowe said. "Some kids have never been to an art show."

Tuttle has displayed various doors at the Jefferson School and will hold a show at the Rehoboth Art League April 27 to May 27.

Eventually, Tuttle said, he would like to display his doors in shopping malls, giving everyone an opportunity to write stories about them. A webpage interface in the works would provide another venue for viewers to submit their stories.

"It's a public art project," he said.

A coffee table book featuring the doors could follow, and, Tuttle said, another goal is to offer college scholarships.

He's still on the lookout for more doors for his project, but only those that are unique.

Tuttle recently bought a submarine door that he has plans for, and he is in the market for a subway door.

"I have some pretty wild doors to use," he said.