• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Following intense therapy following a catastrophic swimming accident in 2015, Archer Senft exhibits digital art he created at the Monument Sotheby’s International Realty gallery on Roland Avenue, in Baltimore in July. Senft will major in engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Cathedral parishioner’s post-injury art includes brand launch

August 9, 2017
By Erik Zygmont
Filed Under: Disabilities Ministry, Feature, Local News, News, Young Adult Ministry

One of the first things Archer Senft did in the aftermath of the Aug. 5, 2015, accident which left him a quadriplegic was test his artistic ability.

At the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a private facility dedicated to spinal cord and brain injury rehab, an art therapist “rigged me up with some charcoal and put some paper in front of me,” remembered Archer, 18, a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland and a participant in the parish’s men’s group. .

“I was just trying to get some muscle function in my arms,” he explained. “I was able to make some rough, gestural movements, and I was able to create a spiral.”

The spiral became a snail, and the snail, eventually, a logo, which has become a brand emblem as well as a symbol of certain personal qualities that a headfirst dive into an unseen sandbar failed to diminish: ambition and a sense of humor.

Slimeyard Slimes, featuring a retooled version of Archer’s original drawing, is a line of T-shirts, caps and pastel ties, ostensibly appealing to the young, pier-side set, who tend to accessorize with sock-less shoes and aviator or Wayfarer-style sunglasses.

If the gear looks suspiciously similar to that of another label with a phonetically corresponding name and roughly equivalent – albeit more exclusive – target customer, it’s intentional.

Archer Senft, who is entering the University of Pennsylvania, is shown with some of his artwork. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Slimeyard Slimes is a good-natured parody of Vineyard Vines, a brand that celebrates the good life on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and features a smiling whale.

“A big market for us early on was people we know, especially through McDonogh (School) and the cathedral,” explained Archer, who attended the School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen through eighth grade and McDonogh through 12th grade, which he completed in June.

Slimeyard Slimes “kind of advertises for itself,” he added. “People will see it and look it up. We’re getting orders from all over the place, primarily the East Coast, but we’re also seeing random orders from places like Minnesota and Illinois.”

Archer credited Match Zimmerman, an artist and teacher at McDonogh, with helping him create the snail from his mind’s eye.

“He encouraged me not to let go of art and creativity and expressing myself that way,” Archer said.

With his injury limiting the use of his arms and hands, he found the computer an effective medium.

“The snail logo started as a project just to see what I could do,” Archer said, adding that working digitally suits him well.

“In the past, I was always particular and precise in my work,” he said. “I like things that are exact and clear. The digital media platform lends itself to that.”

A collection of Archer’s art currently hung in Sotheby’s Art Gallery in Roland Park in July. Soon, his work will receive massive exposure when a mural he has designed will appear near the 7-11 on W. 28th St. in Remington.

It’s a collaboration with well-known mural artist Michael Owens of the Baltimore Love Project and will include an “abstract, geometric design of the American flag in the background and portraits of people from the community,” Archer said.

“I just love to see art on walls,” he continued. “I like the idea of art that’s accessible to everybody, and that makes the city more accessible and unique in its own way.”

Archer heads to the University of Pennsylvania in August, where he will pursue a major in engineering.

He said graduating high school on time, despite the paralyzing accident between his junior and senior years, was a “major goal.”

“I did what I could cobbling credits together,” he said, adding that he studied in Atlanta in the early stages of his recovery, and later at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute before he returned to McDonogh full time.

He credits friends and family, particularly his father, Deacon William Senft, who serves at the cathedral, and mother, Louise Phipps Senft, a master organizer.

“She was very instrumental in getting people together to teach me,” Archer said, “and I was not even able to speak for a decent amount of that time.”

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Erik Zygmont

A journalist since 2005, Erik wrote for small-town publications in New Hampshire before he left for Germany, where he taught English for two years, starting in 2009. He moved to Baltimore and served as editor of the Baltimore Guide from 2012 to 2015. He then served as a staff writer for Catholic Review until August 2017 when his family made plans to relocate from Maryland. He currently serves as a freelance contributor.

Erik is grateful for the richness of the Catholic faith he has experienced since, owing both to his access as a journalist and the Baltimore Archdiocese being the Premier See.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Three more pro-life activists convicted on federal charges for blockade at abortion clinic
  • Cardinal Dolan: Are Sunday Masses just too long?
  • St. Maria Goretti High School faces uncertain future after difficult decision by archdiocese
  • Archbishop Lori announces appointments, including three associate pastors
  • Bishop Strickland will not resign, but says he will respect Pope Francis’ authority if removed

| Latest Local News |

Radio Interview: Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore awarded $2 million VA grant

‘The Following of Christ’: The ‘hidden’ book that helped make Mother Seton a saint

| Latest World News |

U.S. Border Patrol records sharp increase in arrests; situation of migrants in Mexico deteriorates

English police apologize to woman arrested for silently praying outside abortion facility

Papal commission incorporates global feedback in safeguarding guidelines

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Question Corner: Does insufficient faith keep us from being healed?
  • U.S. Border Patrol records sharp increase in arrests; situation of migrants in Mexico deteriorates
  • English police apologize to woman arrested for silently praying outside abortion facility
  • Papal commission incorporates global feedback in safeguarding guidelines
  • U.S. bishops, advocacy groups caution against government shutdown
  • Para compensar todos los reclamos de abuso: la Arquidiócesis considera reorganización
  • Radio Interview: Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage
  • God has the same love for all, pope says at Angelus
  • Take leap of faith and dare to love your family, those in need, pope says

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED