Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli Zemper.
Hi Eli, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
When I first showed up at St Louis Center (a residential facility for individuals with intellectual and developmental differences) two years ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had been a high school teacher for the previous 25 years, but had recently left the classroom and was reinventing myself. I had started a mobile clay workshop business as a way to continue teaching as well as provide art in our rural community after the art center had closed down. I was worn out by the pandemic, the outgrown roles that I had occupied in my teaching life, and was looking for a new start.
The first group of residents I met included Linda. Linda was a conduit of love. Whenever I came to our sessions with a new project and asked if she would like to join in, her answer was “Sure! Why not?”
What a powerful philosophy.
One that I didn’t know was missing in my life.
Linda and her enthusiasm came at a time when I needed that boost of energy coupled with permission to let go of things that were blocking my joy. I needed to be part of a community who were willing to try new things. Who didn’t need to be persuaded to engage in their curiosity. Who were game to just give it a go.
How wonderfully healing to be in a place where I could join others in simply seeing what would happen if we tried making something.
No judgement on whether anything was “good” enough. Just play and presence and laughter and discovery!
What a gift!
I’ve come to understand that the heart of an artistic community is inviting and allowing acceptance of who you are, encouragement of curiosity, and invitations to try things: a new technique, your authentic voice, or working with others who are not you.
It also involves a trust in the power (power both in the sense of energy and the mathematical power. . .a kind of multiplier) of collaboration.
Over the years, people have thanked me for my “service” in education. But this misses a fundamental point. The assumption in this statement is that this “service” runs in one direction: from me to others.
Since that beginning at St Louis Center, I have been lucky to work with assisted art studios like Passion Works Studio in Athens, Ohio and Soaring Arts studio in Napoleon, Ohio. Earlier this year I started a non-profit called Moxie Works Studio to continue to investigate what these truly special places are and to continue to work with these artists.
My “service” in assisted art studios is like being at a banquet and loading my plate (along with sometimes fixing plates for others) with all the wonderful, unexpected, and joyful things we are exploring, and sitting down to enjoy the feast together.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Because assisted art studios are not very prevalent in Michigan, Tonya Wagner, Community Arts Coordinator of Soaring Arts Studio, and I joke about “describing the unicorn” (a rare and/or mythical thing that someone has never seen or doesn’t believe in). Being able to describe what an assisted arts studio looks and feels like and the basic assumptions and philosophies it has at its core is the subject of a research paper we are writing together this fall. The heart of this research project will feature observations and contributions from the artists at Soaring Arts. We hope to publish this paper in coordination with the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in order to educate individuals and communities about the importance of including art studios that are designed to meet the needs of everyone, as well as the enormous benefits these studios have for the people and the communities they serve.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the owner and teaching artist of Curiouser Clay, a mobile clay workshop. I develop participatory community art projects across community, disability, and rural settings. This year, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation awarded me a $25,000 grant to develop a community art project that would culminate in an exhibit inside a shipping container. For six months, over 100 participants in the larger community of Chelsea, Michigan, including residents of a retirement home, students at the local high school, and three separate assisted arts studios, told stories and made printed ceramic plates about their favorite things. These stories and plates were turned into an exhibit called A Seat at the Table. Visitors to the shipping container were able to view the table set with a selection of printed plates and listen to a soundtrack from the plates’ creators describing their favorite thing. I was so proud of how each person’s story and plate really showcased who they were. The cumulative effect of seeing all the different plates on the table and hearing everyone’s voices really drove home how much stronger we are if everyone is afforded a seat at the table. This project is the third community project I’ve designed and facilitated over the last two years. This fall, I am excited to collaborate with Soaring Arts Studio in a project we are calling “Failabration!” which celebrates the oops, messy middles, unintended outcomes, and AHA!s in the process of creating something from idea to end. I can’t wait to start this work with this incredible studio!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
It was a real risk to leave the classroom. It was a full-time dependable job that I had spent the previous twenty years getting pretty good at. But being a teacher during the pandemic and not having many of the mental and emotional supports I needed to fully support 85 students during those two years we were online took a toll on me that I’m only now starting to understand. When we returned to in-person teaching, very little had been done to provide care to the teachers; we were just expected to continue as though nothing had happened. I realized that I couldn’t continue giving the same level of love, care, and compassion that I had been able to previously, but I was terrified of inventing a new life for myself. Switching careers and fashioning a business from clay (literally) was one of the hardest and scariest things I have ever done. It required me to double down on myself and my capabilities, ignore the loud voices outside of me (and louder ones inside of me) telling me that I was crazy to give up my position and not capable or ready to build something for and about myself. But leaving that career, and not turning back was instrumental in beginning to really become myself. . .for myself. I’ve spent my whole life in service to others. Through this work, I’m learning to include myself in the plans I make in my life. And its making all the difference!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://curiouserclay.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curiouserclay/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curiouserclay/
