look what you made me do...part 3 of 3

Part 3:

So, Jencyn, the nursing major visited the Sculpture Studio and was invited to make something.  That positive experience snowballed into a second, more involved, sculptural experience.  At the end of the second day, Jencyn wrote:  “While I am fully knowledgeable on the stress shared in that studio as deadlines approach and art show submissions loom, it was an escape for me, and I was, and am, really grateful I got the chance to be a sculpture student for a day or two with my best friend and her friends and her teacher who was more than willing to teach me, a random girl who is not supposed to be there, how to weld."

I have known for several years that students have a different experience in my classes than they may have in other classes.  I have largely shrugged this off in the past or just chalked it up to the Sculpture Studio just being a fun place.  I honestly thought that it was just easier for students to have a positive experience in Sculpture because the nature of the processes are so much fun.  It wasn’t until I spoke with some other professors and teachers that I realized not every Sculpture Studio is like ours.  It made me a little more curious about what those differences were.  "The unexamined life..." and all, right?  Jencyn's experience was a perfect opportunity for me to engage with those thoughts.  If you're not a teacher, I won't judge you if you skip the multitude of words to follow.

Obviously we were engaging with experiential learning.  That’s almost always a given in my Sculpture classes that are heavily based on action and doing.  Art students at this level often learn best when they get their hands on the materials and get to actively participate in the processes.  However, each professor handles this differently.  My approach is to introduce the tools and processes in a way that is not overwhelming or information overload.  For each new material/project, I’ll introduce and demonstrate the tools and equipment students will need for that material/project.  A little bit of general information to keep people safe, followed by more specific information distributed as they have more experiences.

I also learned that my approach to those introductions is different from other approaches.  Talking about it is boring and ineffective for tactile learners.  At the end of the day, no one cares about WHY the MIG welder works or what kind of compressed gas it uses.  They need to know what it feels like to hold a welding gun in their hands while sparks fly all over them as they try to move very slowly the distance of one quarter of an inch.  That is very much a “learn by doing” experience.  

With Jencyn, I did very little explaining, zero lecturing and just let her feel her way through both of these experiences.  She may have, at times, felt like she was a lone explorer, but everything she did was closely monitored, highly considered and completely safe.  She was able to feel like she was walking a tightrope alone, but she had a very secure safety net if she needed it.  I love the perceived sense of adventure and danger that comes with sculpture, but so much of it is really just perception.  In reality, my sculpture worker and I are very closely monitoring each student for safety and progress.  

This idea of academic adventure is important.  My current generation of students mostly came from K-12 environments where they were told exactly what to do.  Meeting expectations was treated as excellence by many.  Current college students love to be told exactly what is required of them so that they can check boxes.  My projects, by design, force students to think for themselves.  I intentionally provide limited amounts of information so that students can’t just follow a script.  In order to solve the problems of each project, they must think analytically and critically.  This makes many students very uncomfortable because they do not know the outcome before they start.  That is what makes each project a worthwhile creative endeavor.  This is when students start using a larger percentage of their brains.

Jencyn had no idea what to expect with either of these experiences.  Because I was moving around so much between students on the first day, she must have felt like a solo adventurer, and in a way, she was.  I’m sure it was a relief to have Elena and Cathryn nearby to help in my absence, but she was basically making the foam heart on her own.  While that may have been scary at times, it also increased the feeling of accomplishment  when the project was complete.  To know you created something great and you did it all by yourself is a great feeling.  

Students in my classes are almost never shown previous examples of student work.  Inevitably, they’ll see work on display on campus and my projects have grown a bit of a lore about them over the years.  I learned many years ago, that if I show an example of a past student’s project, every new student will see that project as the goal and I’ll get a whole class of projects that solve the problems exactly the same way.  There’s nothing creative about that.  When I don't show examples, suddenly there are a multitude of correct ways to go about solving problems and the results get far more creative and interesting.

There’s a downside to not showing examples.  I have to do a lot more explaining and often, I have to take students by the figurative hand and lead them through the more difficult parts of a project.  This extra work on my part is worth it if it helps to produce students who are always looking for the most creative solution.  I have a long drive home where I can ride in silence if I need a break from hearing my name a thousand times.  I'm kinda not kidding.

Jencyn was in uncharted territory.  She had almost no visual touchstones to rely on.  She had the freedom to make whatever she wanted in both instances and while that freedom may have created an amount of discomfort, it also gave her permission to make and draw anything that made her happy.  She had no idea that the steel heart shaped glasses would be a level of difficulty that was far beyond her current capabilities because she hadn't seen anyone try it and fail.  She simply had the freedom to say that’s what she wanted to create.

Academic scaffolding was in place to help her and to protect her, but she likely had no idea.  Students don’t need to be aware of all that a teacher is doing to create a safe and effective learning environment.  I often seem as if I’m operating without a plan.  While this is far from true, it does create a fun, fly by the seat of your pants feeling for students.  This creates an air of excitement, as if anything could happen.  Sure, there are times when I have no idea if something will work out, but most often, I have a lot of experience and knowledge to guide me.  Students don’t need to know that.  Everyone loves an adventure.  Let them have some fun!

Which brings us to the idea of impossibility.  Over the years, I’ve had many students bring sketches of ideas to me that I have a pretty high level of confidence knowing they are not currently capable of creating.  I know things about the materials and processes that they do not know.  I can look two or three weeks into the future and anticipate the problems they’ll encounter.  I’ll take what I know about each student and do some calculations and sometimes I’ll know there’s no way they’ll succeed.  Very often, I’ll greenlight the idea anyway.  

Why?  I had this one student who could do anything she wanted.  She was that type of person, smart, creative and driven.  One day I told her that I wanted her to come up with an idea of a form she thought it would be impossible to create in her preferred method of making.  She presented the idea and she was right, it looked impossible.  I told her to try to make it.  It took her several months, a few tears and a lot of cursing, but she did it and it remains one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen a student create.  By my calculations, it was impossible, yet she did it.

Was it academically irresponsible to greenlight that impossible idea?  Not in the least.  I understand exactly how much a student can learn from doing something impossible.  Most often, it isn’t possible and the student will either figure that out and pivot to a better idea or solution, or they’ll learn the limitations of the process and they’ll develop an even better plan.  They only way they fail is if they quit.  Sometimes they do quit, but it’s rare.  Sometimes, they don’t fail.  If you don’t tell someone it’s impossible, they might just make it possible.  

I have learned to praise the attempt and to encourage students through the tough parts.  Most creative students love a good challenge.  Some of my people absolutely thrive when they know I don’t think they can do something.  I tend to create comedically oppositional relationships with students and they love to show me I was wrong.  Don’t tell them that I love it too.

My hope is that all of these things help to create a feeling of “fun” in the studio.  Fun is not an academic word, but I’ve recently learned that “play” is gaining respect in the academic world.  The ability to approach a problem with a healthy sense of play is so important, especially in the Sculpture Studio.  When you are free to play, there’s no risk.  You’re not worried about grades and you know you have support nearby, so there’s more freedom to try things.  Especially when you have a loud bald guy urging you to just do it and see what happens.  

The freedom to play in the studio is crucial to my personal approach to teaching.  I have intentionally created a controlled environment where students can feel welcomed and safe.  When you feel welcome and safe, you can play.  An environment where you’re encouraged to try a variety of possible approaches creates a situation where students can engage with their most creative thoughts.  It creates an environment where students can have a very frustrating experience and they’ll still be excited to come tell me exactly what went wrong and what they’re going to do differently the next time.  

Jencyn also saw firsthand just how supportive the Sculpture studio can be.  The encouragement of a teacher can be powerful, but you know what’s even more powerful?  The encouragement of your peers.  From the moment Jencyn stepped into the studio, students welcomed her, saw that she was attempting to make things and they praised the attempt.  Elena, Cathryn and Jenna all spent significant time with Jencyn and they encouraged like it was their job.  Other students passing through smiled, said encouraging things and offered support.  Gabe was working in the welding area with us and his constant smile and positive presence was a tangible comfort.

All of these teaching tactics, paired with my particular personality and teaching style, work together to create a learning environment where the tone has been set, the challenges have been laid out, the safety net is in place and the freedom to play has been encouraged.  Of course, this doesn’t work all the time.  Some students simply don’t jive with my personality or my academic approach.  This bothers me far more than I’ll ever tell you, but I am learning that there’s not much I can do about it.  My hope is that those students will find their way to another mentor and/or another creative discipline and find success.  I’m not advocating for all studio professors and art teachers to adopt my methods.  I am offering an explanation of them so that they can steal whatever works for them and their students and personalities.  

So what did this accomplish?  I’m not out here trying to convert the masses to be Art majors or even 3D BFAs.  Students sometimes think that, but you have to consider this from my perspective.  Teaching is hard when you have great students.  Why would I want students who weren’t passionate about being there?  My job is to teach, not to convert.  The good news will spread itself.  (I feel like there’s a religious application there, but no one has time for that, right?)  Jencyn isn’t going to drop her Nursing major and become a sculptor.  So what was the goal?  

The goal was to point out the innate creativity she already had.  I wanted to help her to see the abilities she has and to build confidence.  I wanted her to see what was involved in the physical process of creating a three-dimensional form and to grow in her appreciation for art and art-making.  If she never comes back to the studio, she will forever see 3D artwork differently.  She will have a greater appreciation for what it takes to produce a form that simply did not exist an hour before.  She will know how to break a large project down into smaller parts.  She will understand the importance of developing a plan and the importance of hard work to make that plan a reality.  

And maybe, if I’m lucky, she will always hold a place in her life for creativity.  Maybe she will know that she can do things all by herself and that she never has to rely on a significant other to do things for her.  Maybe she’ll wake up every day and remember that she’s a badass, because she is.

One final teacher thought:  Jencyn’s studio success was not only because of the learning environment.  Jencyn came into the studio as a smart, creative and disciplined student.  More often than not, students like that will find success no matter how bad my teaching is.  

I would still argue that a great student plus great teaching is an equation for even greater success.

Jencyn signed off on her sculpture experience with this:  “I would offer for you guys to come and learn to manually take blood pressures or cry in a study room with me the night before a pharm exam but I don’t think that would be as fun.”

Well, I would bet there are days when my people would gladly trade places, but when they returned to their senses, hopefully they'd see that a creative and playful experience is worth tolerating me!

look what you made me do...part 2 of 3

Part 2:

Class time came on Thursday and Jencyn was back in the studio.  I was stoked.  I should say that during this 3 hour class time, I have stacked classes.  This means I have students working in the studio from Sculpture 1, Sculpture 2, Sculpture 3, Advanced Sculpture 1, Advanced Sculpture 2 and I have an MFA student as well.  This translates into managed chaos for me.  I’m constantly being pulled in 7 directions and I’m hearing students shout my last name hundreds of times.  Sculptural processes often require me to be present and very observant to keep my students safe.  I stay busy and I’m constantly moving during this time.  I knew this would be a challenge for working individually with Jencyn but I also felt this was an important moment as a teacher.

Jencyn suited up, total badass...

...but make it fashion!

Elena, Cathryn and Jenna helped get Jencyn properly dressed in some overalls, a welding jacket, gloves and a welding helmet.  She looked like a badass sculpture student before we even got started.  When I teach welding to a class, I do so in small groups and I can sense the apprehension in the students.  They have heard the welder and seen the sparks and they tend to be very nervous.  I spend a lot of time making them feel comfortable and safe.  Jencyn showed no fear so I decided to just go for it.  I quickly explained what was going to happen, welded a small spot for her to watch and handed her the welding gun.  She hesitated only briefly and then pressed the trigger and sparks went flying.  It was great.  

Jencyn (left) making her first sparks

Sometimes students weld for the first time and it’s honestly not that amazing.  I will admit to being a little generous with the praise and compliments on occasion, but when I tell you this lady is a natural, you need to believe me.  Her welds were immediately strong and looked great.  She had the rhythm and pace.  In another couple of minutes, she had welded two curved rods into a heart.  Yes, I precut and bent the two pieces to make a heart.  Judge if you wish, but she's a fellow Swiftie and it made her smile.  

Jencyn’s recollection of this part was:  “The next day I didn’t have class, and got an invitation to come back and do something fun. I was excited and also very nervous. I walked into the studio following Elena kinda like a scared puppy haha. I watched Elena and Cathryn do an impromptu haircut on Jenna, and felt like I was getting to experience a “go to work with your roommate” day. They got me suited up to weld, where I got to weld a heart together and learned how to put metal together from McAbee. I don’t curse, but I got the status of “BadA$$”, which made me feel cool. 

Everyone in there was also very supportive of my side quest, which made me feel really special considering I had no idea what I was doing and was lowkey afraid I’d somehow be the one to accidentally, like, light the studio on fire or something.” 

Back to my perspective…With this major accomplishment under her belt, Jencyn could have retired and had a fun story to tell.  A lot of people would have been overwhelmed and wanted to quit while they were ahead.  Anticipating this and not knowing how many days I could get her in the studio, I explained how impressed I was and that with this new knowledge she had about a process, she could now extrapolate that into making just about anything she wanted to make.  

She didn’t seem eager to leave, so I suggested that she come up with some ideas of things she’d like to make and I would help her.  She sat down and drew sketches in a sketchbook.  Just so you’re visualizing this with me, we had a nursing major all decked out in sculpture studio clothing sitting in the studio drawing in a sketchbook.  I think I may have felt an emotion.

A few minutes later we looked at her sketches and talked about which ones she was most interested in making.  She chose a pair of heart sunglasses and within minutes she was drawing the shapes on a flat piece of steel.  Another couple of minutes later, I was demonstrating the plasma torch for her.  As the downpour of sparks danced across the floor towards her feet, she didn’t flinch.  Instead, she took the torch in her hand and carefully cut out the shapes, being very careful to cut on the lines.  It was great!

Jencyn took to the plasma torch like a pro

Cleaning up the edges of the steel is a longer and less fun process.  It was here that I was able to step in and grind the steel because I knew the tedious process would be a deterrent.  No sense in frustrating people for no good reason.  Once those pieces were cut and cleaned, they were ready to weld together.  This weld would be a slightly more complex weld, but Jencyn was up for the challenge.  I described how I wanted her to move her hands and she followed my instructions to the letter.  Welding on thin sheet is very tricky and it’s so easy to burn through.  She had the right touch and got it on the first try.  

Jencyn made this out of steel!

There was a lot of praise and celebration.  She had essentially completed two welding projects in one class period and had solidified her status as a certified badass.  I was thrilled for her.  I was also thrilled for me because my brain was already trying to assess the teaching systems at work during those two studio events.  Why did this work?  How did I convince a nursing major to learn to weld?  Remember, this isn’t a clean, comfortable paint and pour situation.  She got dirty and manipulated molten metal at 2000 degrees.  This was hard.

Jencyn wrote:  “After McAbee had to do some major work to get all the excess metal parts off, he let me weld everything together and I was very very very happy with the result. Like, I for real just sketched that out and made that???? I felt really special for being given the invitation to hang out in there and make things, and I hope to go back and do more if I’m able. (side note, I left the glasses in the studio with the intention of going back and throwing some color on them, because I am me and making them pink is speaking to my soul), and while I have been busy with the chaos of catching back up on labs and nursing work, I have full intention and plans to go back.”

Y’all.  Not only did Jencyn volunteer to show up for a 3 hour sculpture session that involved the real possibility of getting burned, she loved it and has plans to come back.  What???

Of course, this says something about the curiosity, character and positive attitude of Jencyn.  But I think it also says something about the instructional tactics and the learning environment cultivated in the Sculpture Studio.

Maybe it’s time to step back and think a little about what was happening.  Teachery stuff coming soon in Part 3.

look what you made me do...part 1 of 3

Part 1:

I met Jencyn about a year ago and I knew about her several months prior to that meeting.  She is a nursing major, currently excelling in that program and on her way to becoming a successful graduate.  During her freshman year, she was randomly paired with a roommate, Elena, who happened to be an art major.  Elena enrolled in a sculpture class and not too long after that experience, changed her major to 3D BFA, which meant taking a lot more sculpture classes.  That sentence could be extrapolated into a whole story of its own, but today we’re just focusing on Jencyn.  

Jencyn started hearing about the sculpture class and the sculpture professor, and I’m sure she heard a lot more than I even know at this point.  I can be a bit much in the studio.  I actively try to harness my high energy and enthusiasm for sculpture and use that to inspire students to do great things.  This is a highly considered aspect of my teaching practice.  I understand that it can come off as annoying and probably overwhelming at times.  I’m sure Jencyn heard it all.  

About a year ago, Elena told me that Jencyn would like to come to a coffee talk so Cathryn, Elena and I met her at Starbucks for an hour-long conversation.  We left, having learned that Jencyn was cool, and we went on about our lives in the sculpture studio while Jencyn went back to studying.  

coffee with jencyn 2025

A few little adventures have happened in the time since but when this spring semester began, Jencyn found herself with a little extra time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, conveniently when my upper level sculpture classes meet.  One recent Tuesday, I walked through the studio on a rampage trying to get students motivated to work and when I walked past Elena’s studio table, I saw Jencyn sitting there with a laptop.  She seemed to be doing some work and I didn’t want to pry, so I said hello and moved along with my rampage.  

A little while later I walked by again and saw Jencyn still there.  I made a little comment about how if she stuck around too long, I’d put her to work.  She joked back and over the next few minutes my teacher brain started buzzing.  I wondered what she would do if I gave her some sculpture materials.  You know, just some simple things, maybe that air dry clay that’s been on the shelf for a couple of years.  I wondered, “Could I get her to make a sculpture?” and I think I kept that question silent in my head.  My teacher interest was piqued.

I whirled around and started looking for materials.  The air dry clay turned out to be just a recycled container, so I quickly located some alternative materials.  I found a couple of Styrofoam spheres and some wire.  I went to Jencyn and deposited the materials and said, “Here, if you’re gonna be in the sculpture studio, you have to make something!”.  This was an important moment from my perspective.  Once the challenge is issued, the seconds that follow often determine the outcome.  Without hesitation, she closed her laptop, smiled and said, “Alright.”  The best possible response.  It was on.

Jencyn getting started

Jencyn told me later that as she worked on her “project”, she was creating a blog post in her head about her experience.  She was kind enough to write it down and give me permission to share excerpts with you.  About this part of the story, she wrote:

“Last week, I got the honor to play pretend sculpture student not once, but twice. It started as an invitation from Elena to work on my assignments in an environment that wasn’t our apartment or a stuffy study room in the library. I accepted, of course.  I feel special to be allowed in the sculpture studio and to get the chance to pretend I belong there. I sat in and started working on an assignment that wasn’t due for another week. I was kind of having a hard week. The anxiety of nursing classes, labs, never ending ATI assignments along with the studying I should’ve been doing was catching up to me and I had had multiple days of feeling like I wasn’t allowed to relax or give myself time to think about anything else because I had to focus on passing and passing well. About 45 minutes into this, McAbee randomly asked if I wanted to make something. I said “sure!” , considering I was in a studio I technically wasn’t supposed to be in, and already had multiple days of work ahead done, why not. He handed me some random objects, Cathryn and Elena handed me tools, and I got to work.”

Back to my narrative…I paid close attention for the next hour or so.  I couldn’t really give her an assignment because I didn’t want to scare her off, but not giving any direction at all could lead to frustration.  So I kept a close eye on progress.  She started out bending the wire and trying to connect it to the spheres.  That didn’t seem to be doing much, so I told her she could do anything she wanted, even carving the foam.  This was a magic button.  She immediately lit up, took a sharp tool and began carving the sphere.  Just a few minutes later, she had carved a heart from the sphere with a knack for form that I don’t always see in art students, even some 3D BFA students.  Elena was also helping and encouraging her.  She may have suggested the addition of some paper maché and we quickly located some pre-mixed glue and water and Jencyn got to work as if she knew exactly what she was doing.  She later wrote:

“I sat and carved a makeshift heart out of Styrofoam, and was mid paper-mâché when I received a small red sticker of encouragement. I smiled and said thank you, feeling a little silly because I hadn’t really done much compared to the other people in the studio grinding (both literally with tools and figuratively in working). I ended up making a heart with paper mâché and writing/doodling on it and stuck some wire spiraled through it. I had fun. It was the first time in a few days I hadn’t felt so anxious, even if all I did was make a mess with some Styrofoam.”

Elena getting the paper maché ready

By the end of that studio class, Jencyn had created a small paper maché heart covered in sheet music.  She further decorated the surface with marker and did a great job.  I praised and encouraged and invited her to come back any time.

The finished heart, Jencyn's first sculpture!

Before the Thursday studio class, Elena let me know that Jencyn was coming back.  A major teaching victory for me!  I told Elena to make sure Jencyn was dressed for studio work, a hint that welding was an option if the clothing was right.  Could I get her to do one of the scariest processes in the studio?  Would she burst into flames and run out of the studio on fire?  Tune in next time for Part 2 of the story.

misnomer

(note:  this one took some time to ferment and develop so it’s been roughly 7 days between the writing of it and the posting of it.)

Dear Friends,

There’s so much evil going on in the world, a blog seems so silly.  I had a wonderful teaching experience this week that I wanted to share.  I had the rare opportunity to give a crash course in sculpture to a non-major and after thinking about it more, I think there’s something profound to be mined from it.  Something about pedagogical theory and how I’m using it intentionally to create a specific environment for learning.

Sadly, you’re going to have to wait a bit for that one because between me beginning to process those thoughts on Friday and me getting to have a moment in front of a computer now (Saturday evening) some things have happened to distract me.  Yesterday, when our “representatives” had the opportunity to stop funding this obvious violation of constitutional rights and basic human rights going on in the streets of our cities, several of those goofballs flipped and pushed the total number of votes for funding over the top.  They had the power to end it and they chose not to do that.  Then, another protester was shot and killed.  An American citizen.  And none of us can forget that before that, they did that thing with the 5 year old kid.  

I have come to expect government to be evil.  It’s not a pleasant thought to sit with, but it’s an honest thought based on years of observation.  What I’m having a tougher time with is the general and specific support of political evil by those who label themselves as “Christian”.  To be a little more specific, I’m mostly talking about those who label themselves as Evangelical Christian, the brand of Christianity I grew up in.

I’m not talking about the politicians who will court their local churches and quote Bible verses during election season.  These chumps will do and say literally anything to be elected/reelected. No, I’m talking about your aunts, uncles, friends and acquaintances who are very active in their local church but have fallen victim to false teachings about their religion.  The ones who’ve been tricked into believing their religion can be mixed with their politics.

False teaching sounds harsh, I know.  You see, I’ve read the Bible a few times and studied it for many years as a regular churchgoer and I know the text has a lot of bad things to say about false teachers and false prophets.  I was just always made to believe those were the people outside the church.  Not the pastors.  Not the Sunday School teachers.  Not our relatives.

Driving around my small Southern town, I know to expect to see an American flag sticker and maybe a couple of gun stickers on the back of a vehicle sporting a cross or some other Christian symbol.  There may not be anything wrong with that in principle.  I’m not a fan of stereotypes and I don’t mind telling you that I like my freedom, I own guns and I follow the teachings of Jesus.  All those things and more can be wrapped in one complicated human.  That knowledge prevents me from being too judgmental of stickers on cars until I see the Christian symbols mixed with the political stickers.  For clarity, I don’t care which flavor of politics you prefer.  Left, right, donkey or elephant, none of it mixes well with Jesus.

In my church upbringing, I sat in a sanctuary listening to a pastor explaining the Bible to me while he (yes, it was always a he) was flanked by two flags, one with stars and stripes and one with a cross.  At Vacation Bible School, I carried one of those flags when I was well behaved and held it proudly as we recited the pledge of allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible.  (It has come to my attention that this may be a much more specific personal experience than I thought.  If you’re curious about these pledges, I’d be happy to discuss.  I still remember them.)  We had big “outreach” events on the 4th of July, complete with fireworks and we got a lot of not-so-subtle instructions on how a Christian should vote every couple of years around October.  America was always on stage in the church.  

We were taught that we lived in a “Christian Nation” built on “Christian Principles” so it seemed normal to have so much “Murica” mixed into our religion.  Our men’s groups would have “wild game dinners” that focused on camouflage, gun rights and hunting.  We were constantly reminded that we needed to stand against the killing of unborn babies and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that we were encouraged to vote for anyone who ran on the “pro-life” ticket, no matter how terrible or unqualified they were.  I’m using past tense here and these experiences date back to my childhood, but I assure you that all of these things and more are still going on in the Evangelical Church to this day.

But somehow, that escalated into being encouraged to vote for the “lesser of two evils” even when that “lesser” was actually a convicted felon who in a recorded TV interview told the interviewer that he had never in his life done anything that he needed to ask forgiveness for.  In light of what we know he’s done now, that seems particularly not in line with at least one of the Ten Commandments.

And many of these “Christians” won’t admit they messed up.  With so many human rights violations happening on a daily basis, many Christian pastors are still not standing up in their pulpits and pointing out the contradictions between the teachings of Jesus and the works of the evil people they helped put in power.  They continue to support a power structure and political leaders who embody taking away the rights of anyone who doesn’t choose to live like Christians think you should live.    

The Jesus they say they love, the Jesus who was brown, who illegally crossed borders as an immigrant, who was wanted by the political and religious authorities, who broke religious laws, who cared for the poor and the sick and who loved everyone, no matter what they did or believed would likely not be welcome in their million dollar megachurches.  And even if they allowed him inside, I can’t help but think he would be bewildered by their in-house coffee shops, the pastor’s book sales in the lobby and the constant requests for money.  Remember that time when Jesus flipped those tables in the Temple?  Good times.

The American Evangelical Christian church is not growing.  Your local pastor may show you numbers that indicate otherwise, but I’ll ask you to really look at the data closely.  The church that’s gaining members is largely gaining them from other churches in decline.  The Christians are simply moving around within their established subculture when they get angry or bored.  That bump in attendance at your church is less evidence that the church is growing and more evidence that the pastor across town just made some people mad.  

The teachings of Jesus were called “gospel” or literally translated, good news.  That good news in a broader view is that all humans are loved by God.  All humans.  Keep in mind that “Christians” didn’t even exist when this good news was first announced.

The group that is currently abducting, attacking and killing people in the street has been using Bible verses in their job marketing ads.  They’re using right-wing religious media to advertise to young Christian men.  People are arguing online and Christians are attempting to defend the senseless violence as a holy purge.  People with Bible verses posted in their bios are wishing death and harm on people who have different opinions than them.  People, who like them, were created in the image of the God they say they love.

Hatred, bigotry and corruption.  Not exactly good news.

Listen, this is not easy for me to write.  I was raised to believe I was supposed to love my neighbor AND my enemy.  That I was supposed to care for the those less fortunate than me.  That I was supposed to seek peace and that my life was supposed to be a visual representation of the good news.  Now I’m watching those spiritual beliefs be hijacked by a political party and used as a weapon.  If that sentence makes you uncomfortable, I encourage you to research how the anti-abortion issue was injected into Evangelical Churches a few decades ago in a calculated effort to get Christians to vote.  I’m watching the church who told me to love my neighbor in Sunday School, worship a criminal who makes fun of mentally challenged people, insults women and brags about assault.  When I tell people I’m a Christian, I have to follow up with “but not THAT kind of Christian”.  Simultaneously, I’m watching Christians I used to respect double down on cruelty.  They say those people shouldn’t have come here illegally, so they deserve it.  They say the protesters should have stayed home so they deserve it.  And my new favorite, they say he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.  Oh the irony as they carry their concealed weapons to church every Sunday morning.  

I guess those “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets were just decoration.  What about grace?  What about mercy?  What about love?  I’m ready to see the people who say they follow the teachings of Jesus start acting like Jesus.  And if they don’t want to do that, I’m ready for them to start calling themselves what they really are:  Capitalists.

us and them

When I was an art major in college, I always felt like a peripheral person.  If that’s not a thing yet, I say we make it a thing.  A peripheral person is one who doesn’t feel like they fit in with the group, so they stick around on the outside edges.  Sometimes this may be perceived, but sometimes it may be real.  Mine was real.  I was a straight, white, Christian, male with good parents and no trauma surrounded by peers who were not really those things at all.  I was observant and interested, but I mostly found my place on the periphery of most studio conversations and social interactions.  I was close enough to hear the conversations and to participate if I felt compelled, but I was mostly just observing and soaking up information.  I was learning.  

I have this student now, we’ll call her Carolina, who I relate to a lot.  She comes from a similar family background and checks a lot of the boxes I did as a student.  In an art department you’ll see people with dyed hair, impromptu haircuts, goth outfits, rainbow outfits, shirts with political slogans, spikes, chains and metal t-shirts sitting beside pretty people with perfect makeup, freshly curled hair and an outfit suitable for Sunday worship service.  Carolina most often has a t-shirt, jeans and her hair pulled back into a pony tail.  Obviously, I don’t relate well to the hair, but the outfit, the background and the disposition all fit pretty well.  

There are days when the more flamboyant and colorful people will do something a bit over the top in the sculpture studio.  In that moment when most people in the room are processing what just happened, Carolina will make eye contact with me, share a knowing smile, and turn and walk out of the room.  The silent message is, “That was really weird, wasn’t it?  We’re not weird like that.”

It's nice to have a Carolina.  Sometimes when things feel so very odd and irrational, Carolina makes me feel grounded.  Like, it’s not us, it’s them, you know?  

While I’m thankful for Carolina, I’m also thankful for the others who hang around a lot in the studio and in my office.  We also share some things in common, but we have some very cool differences.  I’m not sure how specific I can be without you knowing exactly who I’m talking about, but let’s give it a go.  I’d say we all have some shared moral values and definitely a dark (but really funny) sense of humor, but we have very different fashion ideas, come from different family situations and our friend groups outside of school are also very different.  In this group, it’s our differences that make things fun and interesting.  When we have conversations about big things, we don’t always agree and that space between our thoughts is so important.  Sometimes we all go away in silence and we ponder the different perspectives for hours after.  It gives us space to think about what we believe and why.  It gives us space to change our minds.  

In the dumpster fire that is our country recently, I’ve seen a lot of different reactions to the tragic and disturbing events we see in the news and on our social media platforms.  Since the rise of the “clown”, I’ve noticed a few different times that people have posted things like “if you support ___insert most recent abomination of freedom here___ , then please unfollow me”.  I’ve heard people say they have cut off family and friends who have different political ideas.  Most of my life I’ve also known religious people who will limit their time with you unless you subscribe to the exact same explanation of God as they do.  

I understand this sentiment of wanting to block and unfriend people as an act of anger.  It’s so hard to believe that someone could intellectually support something that seems to obviously wrong to you.  Like you, I’ve asked myself out loud, “How could anyone still support that at this point?”

I think there’s a grave danger in this way of thinking and I want to share that with you for consideration.  

You ever wonder how anyone could possibly believe or support something that to you is so obviously wrong?  You may not like the answer.  It’s because, like you, they’ve chosen to surround themselves with like-minded people.  Wait, don’t leave yet.  Hear me out, please.  

Let’s start with “them”.  Because, come on, what idiots, am I right?  While we can see clearly that they are wrong and maybe devoid of a soul, what we can’t always see so clearly is that they have chosen to live each day in an echo chamber of their own beliefs.  If they wake up and grab their phones to look at the news, what news will they see?  The one they trust, which they’ve chosen because the network’s slant aligns with their belief system.  Then they open social media.  They’ll see an endless scroll of posts that also align with their belief system.  That’s how algorithms work.  Their friends were chosen because of shared beliefs as well, so when they get text messages or hang out in person, the topics align with those beliefs.  Their lives have been carefully curated to avoid troubling thoughts from the other side.  There’s no reason to question their beliefs.  Ever.  

So that thing that happened recently, they didn’t experience that the same way you did.  Every bit of information they got was passed through a totally different filter.  Their “truth” was provided to them from a different source.  The “facts” you know, they never even got to see those and they have no reason to go looking for them.  The thing happened, they were told about it by their chosen system of filters, and they formed (or reinforced) an opinion about it.

You see how that works, right?  

But what if we flip that little magnifying glass and look at us?  The sane people.  Do you see how you and I do the same thing?  We’ve curated our lives to have our own filters and our “truth” is handed to us through that same process.  

In curated lives like these, the only hope we have of keeping an open mind and considering different thoughts is by keeping people in our lives who do not think like we do.  

An open mind used to be a sign of intelligence.  The ability to hold opposing thoughts in your head was a sign of education.  Believe it or not, people used to go to college not to get a specific job, but to learn how to think and filter ideas for themselves.  

Even Carolina and I don’t see eye to eye on everything.  I’m sure she’d be the first to tell you that!  But I love having her similar but different perspective in my life.  My office pals will also tell you I’m a crazy person and that I have some very weird beliefs.  But I’m so glad to have them around to share different views with me so that I can keep growing and changing.  Maybe I’ll have a little influence on them too.  And all the other students, the ones who have different gender ideas, different religious ideas, different sexual identities, different family situations, they all have things to teach me, too.  

My humble suggestion is to not block the different people from your life.  My suggestion is to welcome them.  Befriend them, have conversations with them.  We didn’t get into this terrible situation in our country by mixing and mingling.  We got here because our churches, clubs, neighborhoods and political parties kept saying it’s “us vs. them”.

choosing how to see my year

The year 2025 is ending and during these long, dark nights of winter, it’s easy to become quiet and reflective.  During the "holiday taint" (not my creation but I love it) many of us look back on the previous 11.75 months and we assess how the year was for us.  The easiest path is to feel we have to judge the year as good or bad and use our selective memories to back up that judgment.  

Like most things in life, a year is neither good nor bad.  It simply is.  Each day is what we make of it.  Some things we can choose and others we cannot.  Our perspective, though, is always in our control.  Here’s how I’m choosing to see my year.  (With a little help from my camera roll, because I too, forget so many details and need a little visual help remembering all the awesome things.)

This is the first photo I took in 2025.  Violet and I stayed up to see midnight and apparently we kept a very young, very small Walter up as well.  Maybe it would be a good idea to try to group these highlights.  Let's call the next one "students"...

These two provide endless entertainment for me and everyone else in the sculpture studio.  Cathryn and Elena are "hype men" when I need support, they are comedians when I need a laugh and they are obviously very talented dancers.  Yes, they're dancing in the pic.  I have the whole video they made during a welding break and I laugh out loud every time I see it.  

They're also spectacular artists and students.  This highlight is from the Student Juried Exhibit Reception and Awards.  Both won highly coveted sculpture awards that night and then they both won awards in a local juried exhibit off campus.  They definitely made my year better.

The last half of my year had far too little MG in it.  But if you know MG, you know that she made up for it in the first half of the year.  She was also a laugh riot and a great student.  This pic is from her crowning achievement at her BFA reception.  MG gave me a year's worth of smiles before May ended.  

The last half of my year also had far too little Katherine in it.  In June, she packed up and moved across the state.  Before June, she also brought her fair share of smiles and laughs to me.  I've also been lucky to call her a friend and she's made sure to check in and catch up pretty regularly.  I'm really grateful for that.  She's also not a student, so I guess I messed the category up.  We did have some of the same students, so that may save it.  I currently have some students Katherine taught when they were freshmen.  That's pretty cool.

This photo pretty much sums up my year with students.  Sometimes you want to throttle them, but overall they're amazing and fun.  

Going to Mir's field hockey games this semester was also fun.  I helped talk Mir into coming back to the US for another year instead of staying in Belgium.  She got to be on the team again and it was cool to learn more about this weird sport and watch her hit people with a stick.

Oh and Shine!  Shine likes to torture me with cats and it always makes me laugh.  Sometimes I'll be working in my office and I'll hear meowing in the hallway.  It's always Shine.

This category is "art".  It was a big year for making art.  I may have only made 2 new sculptures, but I made more than 10 new drawings and several of those were quite large.  I got artwork accepted into 11 exhibits, had two solo exhibits, curated a very cool show, won 3 awards and only had 20 rejections.  One of my favorite things about the year in art was taking on the challenge of making full sized human cut-out drawings.

Ok, I take that back.  One of my favorite things about the year in art was being included in the "At This Moment" exhibit and book by Jerry Siegel and Mark Sloan.  Jerry is a world famous photographer and he came to my home studio to take my photo.  A few months later, that photo was included in the book and exhibition of his photos at the Greenville County Museum of Art.  The book and exhibit featured 78 artists with ties to South Carolina.  Among them were Jasper Johns, Shepard Fairey and Tom Stanley....real artistic heroes and mentors.  I'm still blown away by this.  

Ok wait.  One of my favorite things about the year in art was being invited to create artwork live at Beeple Studios in North Charleston.  This was a fundraiser for my favorite Art Center, Public Works Art Center and Beeple was there hanging out with us.  That's him (Mike) watching Devann sew.  Devann, Maddie and Katherine were all on my fundraising team.  We had the MOST fun and the BEST team.

Here's my drawing from the event.

Here's Katherine's.  It sold so fast.

Here's Maddie's collage.  So fun.

And here's Devann's quilt square trolls.  See?  I had the best team.

Ok, seriously, one of my favorite things about the year in art was having my second solo, immersive exhibition at Public Works Art Center.  I was the first person to ever be invited back for a second exhibit and I had the BEST time filling the gallery with energy and love.  I got to see all my favorite people and I even met some of my new favorite people.  Major highlight.

Creighton get's his own category.  This is the "creighton" category.  Violet and I got excited when we heard Band of Horses was coming to Greenville.  Creighton got us 7th row tickets and backstage passes.  The concert was amazing and after the show, we got to go hang out with Creighton and the guys.  It was so cool.  Definitely a year highlight.

This category is called "hope despite the times".  This was the title of the exhibit I got to curate in Public Works Art Center.  I got to showcase the artwork of some of my favorite artists.  It was so cool to come up with my dream list of artists and invite them.  Every single one said yes and it was an amazing exhibit.  

I'm calling this category "music" and while I did go to some cool concerts and listen to a crazy amount of hours of music while drawing, my favorite music of the year was the music Violet made with me.  This was our 5th year of doing Whenever We Can Tunes and I'm still shocked and honored that she still wants to make fun videos with me.  Definitely on the highlight reel for the year.

This is the "outside" category.  Increasingly, humans are spending more and more time indoors.  When I feel myself falling victim to this, I like to go outside and breath the real air.  I got to bush hog mom's garden twice this year.  My dad's old John Deere is still starting up, so we're still using it.  I feel like a little kid when I drive it.

I added porch sitting to my weekly routine this year and I'm better off for it.  Not only do you get the air, you also get the sounds, the temperature and the relaxation of the view.  Everything about it lowers my stress levels and blood pressure.  I'm currently working on perfecting the right furniture situation for the front porch.  

Of course there's a "running" category.  If memory serves, I ran in almost every weather condition we get here.  Some snow, some rain, some lightning, some heat, some cold and some high winds.  I was lucky to not have any injuries or pains that prevented me from running every day.  Last summer, Violet was injured, so I didn't end up running quite as many extra miles at practice, but I did get to work on some speed with the boys team and I made it to the tree in a speed run.  Y'all don't know what that means but if I was on the team, I would have gotten a sticker for the accomplishment.  I love running.  I wish you did too.

The "teaching" category.  This one is different from "students" because it's all about my perspective as a teacher.  Sometimes teaching can be frustrating and a teacher can feel like they're just wasting time and words, but this year was really good for teaching.  In the spring semester, I had a fun, great group of students in my classes and I got to shepherd the BFA students as they prepared for their solo exhibits.  MG made sure I felt appreciated and I got to celebrate a good group of seniors at graduation.  In the fall, I had a really awesome collection of students and I was able to be patient enough to wait on some really great results.  Some of what happened was honestly just luck, but it was all good.  I can't say too much about some of these successes because they're still ongoing and talking about them would ruin it.  Just know that good things are happening.  The one I can share, and have already if you scroll down, is the cool thing I did with Elena and her sculpture.  

It was a risk, but it turned out to be such a fun success.  It's great for students to see you challenge yourself as a teacher and it's even better for them to see that you actually care.  Again, I'll give luck the credit for the idea and for how it turned out.  I was just happy to be around.  Teaching was pretty cool this year.

There was so much solo travel this year, I had to make a "travel" category.  We did have a couple of fun family vacations to the beach this year, but this category is mostly about me traveling out of town on art trips.  These are solo trips and since I'm not a social guy, they can be pretty solitary.  I don't mind that part.  I enjoy time alone and it gives me opportunity to do silly, fun things without embarrassing anyone.  That pic is from one of my morning runs in the mirror outside the elevators.  Running allows me to explore the different towns and cities.

Any time I get to see Kathe and Tom Stanley is a highlight.  This summer I went to Chapel Hill a couple of times and since they live nearby in Durham, they showed up to support me.  I love them so much.

One of those trips was to install Phoebe in Hillsboro.  It was so hot and humid and I was soaked with sweat even though the entire install lasted only about 10 minutes.  

There were hotels and runs in several different places.  There were side-quests and fun adventures.  I even got to go to South Of The Border for the first time in my life.  Loved it.  Probably have to go back in a couple of months for another trip.  I may not love trying to sleep in a strange place, but these trips mean that I'm installing artwork and sharing it with people and that's pretty awesome.  I'm hoping for many more trips next year.  

So were there days when I felt like a caged animal stuck in a terrible meeting?  Of course.  Were there days when I walked in the door at home thinking I could use a drink?  Definitely.  Were there days I cussed at Jenna for being a stubborn-ass?  Oh yeah.  But each day brought it's own beauty and if I was patient enough, I'd see it before bedtime.  There was a lot of stress, a lot of worry, a lot of really dark days.  But there was light and love and beauty for all of us who looked for it.  

I hope that you and I both will be patient enough to find the light, love and beauty in each day of 2026.