- [Shelley] Welcome to "Kalamazoo Lively Arts," the show that takes you inside Kalamazoo's vibrant creative community and explores the people who breathe life into the arts.

(singer vocalizes melodically) (upbeat bright music) (upbeat bright music) - [Narrator] Support for "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

- On this episode of "Kalamazoo Lively Arts," Chiante' from SHARE, the Society for History and Racial Equity, talks about the importance of dialogue within a community and breaking down prejudice.

Michael Haughey shares his experience as an oil painter and what brings him joy.

But first, Eric Strader and Michael Kifer show us the difference between being a functional potter and master potter.

(mellow bright music) Well, today, I'm talking with Eric Strader and Michael Kifer, who are both clay artists.

And I wanna tell you how this all happened because I was at the West Michigan Potters Guild show.

I always go to those, and I walked by two booths.

And the pottery, like, in each booth, looked so different.

I stood back and I'm like, I wonder, like, how and why.

Like, you see the world differently.

And I thought, I wanna talk to these two guys.

So let's start with you, Eric.

When did you first get interested in fine clay?

- Well, so, as a youngster, my grandfather had a pottery studio in Petoskey, Michigan.

Oftentimes, when I'm firing my electric kiln, the odors of the off-gassing kind of take me back to my grandfather's studio.

But it wasn't until after I graduated from western Michigan with a clarinet performance degree that my wife enrolled me at the KIA in Kalamazoo in a clay class.

I fell in love with it right away in the studio at the art institute.

And so, I've always just had that interest from the family history.

And of course, I didn't think that I would be, you know, today, in my own studio making pots full time.

But after the first few classes, I realized that that's really what I wanted to do.

- And what did it for you, Michael?

- I was in college and I needed a class to fulfill a grant requirement.

And so, I thought clay would be an easy enough class to take.

It seemed like it wouldn't take up all my time.

And boy, was I wrong.

So after spending a full semester making work, I didn't know what to do with it.

And I put it on a four wheel dolly and wheeled it across the campus to something called Flea and Thieves.

And I sold out and I thought, well, this is a good gig.

I can make work and sell it, and I have enough money to pay for my next semester of school.

So I've been pretty much a full-time potter since about '74 or '75.

So it's coming up on 50 years here.

- Your pieces are so beautiful and colorful.

Oftentimes, the inside of the cup may be a different color.

How do you know what colors go together when you're creating a piece like that in the design?

- I think the design, a lot of times, comes from the music I'm listening to.

But I don't know that there's a conscious thought to coming up with colors.

I think that when I see 'em, I just seem to know what color's gonna work.

- Eric, I love the wave rims bowl.

- That's just sort of a technique that I just kind of stumbled on.

And I just really like that movement.

As a functional potter, I focus on form.

And so, the different parts of the piece, whether it's the lip of a pitcher or a handle, those have to feel really good for the user in order to be a very functional piece.

So I'm concerned about form, but I also like movement.

- What's the story about the Stanley pitcher?

- So the Stanley pitcher?

Yeah, so this is my Stanley pitcher, and it was influenced from my grandfather.

Since he was a sculptor, he and I were making pots in a completely different way.

He would actually sculpt the pots out of sculpting clay, make a mold of that pot, and then he could pour liquid clay into that mold to make the pot.

So this is actually a postcard from a show that we did together back in 2004.

So this piece is my grandfather's, and because he's not throwing on the wheel, he could have this spout that kind of jutted up and this handle that kind of came out, more of a sculptural handle.

But throwing on the wheel, I had to kind of come up with something a little different.

And so, this piece, when I throw it, the rim is all the way around here, and then when it sets up a little bit, I cut the backside off.

So I get this spout that kind of juts out from the pot.

And then, I get this handle here that has quite a bit more curve to it.

And then, right here, quite a bit more than a mug handle.

So I put these mugs, I put these handles on a little bit wetter than I do with just a regular mug or pitcher handle.

And so, it just takes a little bit more work.

But, so this is my Stanley pitcher named after my grandfather Stanley, and his influence from his work.

- Eric, when you look at Michael's work, what is it that you feel?

- Well, again, I love his color.

And when I was younger, I used to go to a lot of workshops and I would get great ideas and come back to my studio and I would try and do everything all these other potters were doing.

And I finally realized that I just need to do my own work and buy a couple pieces of Michael's and put 'em in my studio because I can't make Michael's work.

I can't make work like anybody else's.

But I have a couple of mugs of Michael's in my cupboard and you know, it's easy to see that really beautiful color pitcher up there or the mug because all the rest of my pieces are a little more earthy.

And additionally, I would like to say, Michael has been a mentor to me over the years.

And, you know, as a fledgling potter coming out of Dick Lehman's studio, I was trying to find my way and I somehow found the West Michigan Potters Guild and Michael just kind of took me under his wing.

You know, he's been doing this for a long time.

And if there's anybody to find little tricks about how to do something, Michael knows the tricks.

- So for somebody who's watching, and maybe they're a budding potter, or they just started working with clay, like, what kind of advice do you have for them?

- I would say take a class at the art institute, Downtown Kalamazoo.

I think they have a good program.

I think get involved with some of the groups like West Michigan Potters Guild.

They're encouraging to new people.

I think you learn a lot by asking the questions from the people that have been there a while.

And I think that's something that is always helpful for younger potters.

- What words of wisdom do you have, Eric?

- I agree with Michael.

There are lots and lots of great places to take a class, and that's a great way to experiment.

There's just so many different ways of working with clay.

You know, a lot of times we think of potters, we think, oh, potter's wheel, well, there's slab work, there's tile work, there's sculpture.

And when you're in a class situation, you're gonna get all those opportunities.

And I would also say don't be discouraged, especially on the wheel.

I mean, we all started in the same spot.

And it took me probably a dozen times before I got something to turn out on the wheel that was even closely resembling what I was trying to do.

So, you know, it is hard.

And when you see a potter on a demonstration or whatever that throws a mug in, you know, 30 seconds, that's because they've been making mugs for 20, 30 years, you know.

So yeah, definitely don't get discouraged.

Try it all, find what you like.

And you know, certainly, you can find other ways to continue on, whether it's continue on in an art center or you know, Western, or KBCC, you know, there's just lots and lots of opportunities.

- I am so happy to have been able to talk to you both today.

Thank you so much for sharing some of your time here with me.

- It's been interesting, yes.

- Yeah, thanks for having us, I really enjoyed it.

(upbeat bright music) - Well, I'm here talking with Chiante' Lymon, who's the executive director of Society for History and Racial Equity, also known as SHARE.

Thank you so much for talking with me here today.

- Yes, thank you for having me.

- So Chiante', let's talk about the mission, okay.

I mean, what's your mission in Kalamazoo?

- Well, SHARE has a dual mission.

In 2012, we decided that we would tackle two things.

One being racial equity.

I think that right now, of course, it's a really hot topic in community.

But we were thinking about this, you know, 10 years ago around racial equity and what that means to have shared conversations with people at community, no matter your race, no matter your age.

And just really how do we find the common humanity in each other.

And the other part of our mission is collecting oral histories from African Americans here in our community.

- So, SHARE, I love the acronym because it's about bringing people together.

And you do so many different community events, right.

One of them is Taste of Jazz.

- Yes.

- And yes, right.

And so, tell me about, like, what is Taste of Jazz all about?

- Yeah, the community gathers, they come together.

We talk about jazz music, we talk about the origination of jazz music, how it has affected our culture, how it affects people on a daily basis.

It's really bringing together the arts, culture, music, opportunity for people to gather.

People kind of take it as an opportunity to kind of let their hair down, right.

Like have an opportunity to just gather with each other, you know, have some music, have some fun.

We have CEOs and CFOs of organizations, down to community members, activists, just people, and community.

So we have a wide range of people that participate.

- You think that jazz best represents Black history.

Why is that?

- For me, jazz music was the beginning of, when we think about the Harlem Renaissance, when we think about what we have today and how we listen to music and how we feel music today, it's where it all began for us.

I think even here in Kalamazoo, there's a rich history.

When we think about like the Velvelettes that have come from the Kalamazoo community, Battle Creek area.

Just thinking about all of the bands and people that are from Kalamazoo, that's really where it originated and how we got where we are today.

- When you think about the arts in general, right, how does having access to the arts, having the arts in a community kind of help break down people's prejudices and barriers?

- For me, as a board member also of the Black Arts and Cultural Center here in Kalamazoo, it's a pivotal, important piece of community.

When I think about, like right now, we're in Downtown area, having access to community and people that come Downtown to our community, being able to see all of the amazing art, the community here in Kalamazoo has a plethora of people that are doing amazing things, all the way down to the youth.

And even think about like, comic and comic books and things like that.

Making sure that we help young students and youth get to a place where they understand what art is and where creation starts.

Even myself, you know, my own experiences when it comes to creativity and where that really lives.

And in this world, unfortunately, we don't get much opportunity to be creative because we're always, you know, working and trying to get to the next thing.

But to live and be in a moment where you can just create something and call it your own, it's just an amazing opportunity for anyone.

- Talk a little bit about the oral histories, because to me, that was just fascinating.

- For me, I think one of the people that really stands out to me is Phyllis Seabolt, which is someone that's on our website.

She was the first African American teacher here in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and she talks about her experience, right, when Western Michigan University was Western Normal School, she wasn't able to room with people in her dorm, right.

Things that we don't even think about.

Me, I attended Western and even thinking about the history of me becoming the first Black woman president, that's 103 year history.

And to think, I know there were many qualified women long before I came along, but for it to be the opportunity for me in 2017 was something that I think just, you know, I'm standing on the shoulders of all these women that have broken those barriers for me to be who I was at that time, and to continue to be who I am.

So I think just making sure that that history doesn't get lost and just making it a more innovative way, right, for people to learn.

We know not many people of this generation, we only have your attention for 23 seconds.

- And then to be able to digitize it and share it with people who are young, who have never known those stories.

- And that's just been one of the bigger projects that we've been working on in collaboration with the institutions in this area on how do we digitize this information and get it to the community, and make it something that it's not just in the folders in our office, but it's, you know, we're also looking at how do we make sure that we put this out community.

Maybe some touch and go learning opportunities in community that people can touch, and see, and feel, and learn, and do some talk-back.

- Chiante', tell me about the Summit on Racism.

- The Summit on Racism is an annual summit that we do for communities, like, we mentioned the youth summit, but we also have an adult summit.

Definitely understand that racism is prevalent in all sectors.

It's a systemic problem for community.

So we're healing that trauma, right.

And we're having shared conversations about what does eliminating racism look like here in Kalamazoo.

Through that, we're inspiring people to take action.

- You even do this thing called the Reading Race Book Club, right.

What does that look like?

Like, what do those discussions look like?

What books are you reading?

- It's been happening within community since about 2017, 2016.

And it's in collaboration with the Kalamazoo Public Library.

So this was a collaboration that happened before I got into SHARE and has continued to go on.

We do bi-monthly book clubs.

We just read "The Three Mothers," which is about James Baldwin's mother, Martin Luther King's mother, and Malcolm X's mother.

We did that for Mother's Day, so in May.

So we had an opportunity to really just have shared conversation about the women behind the men that we look at as heroes and as as people in our community, right.

Just about what's going on in history, and what has happened, and where we are today, and where do we wanna go, so that we're not reinventing the wheel, but maybe improving the wheel in which we already have.

And I think that that's really where Kalamazoo is progressing towards.

- What role do you think that the arts play in the African-American community?

- Arts is so important, whether it was on purpose or whether it was on accident.

I definitely think that the African American community has to create its own way.

Even the simple thing of like, you know, barbecue and family reunions, and just how all of those things have become a part of our history, soul food, right.

Whether it's given to us, whether we take it, whatever that looks like.

How do we take what we have and make the best of it in community wherever we are?

Like you mentioned, like me being from Detroit.

How do I bring a little bit of Detroit with me, right, here to Kalamazoo and support and create something that people will love and enjoy?

(upbeat bright music) (mellow piano music) - Well, today I am talking with visual artist Michael Haughey, whose medium is oil.

Thank you so much for talking with me here today.

- Oh, it's my pleasure to be with you, Kim.

- Why did you choose oil and what's the primary difference?

Like, why do you enjoy it?

- I chose oil because of the richness in color.

You have a wide spectrum of color mixing that you can do with oils.

They take a while to dry, where acrylics dry very quickly, and certainly, water color dries very quickly.

So you have to work fast.

With oils, you can take your time, really mix and blend the colors very well.

And it just lends itself, for me personally, the way to go.

- I mean, what are you feeling, even when you're describing that, what are you feeling like when you're painting?

And then that process is a slow one.

- Total euphoria.

I mean, it's so stimulating for me.

It's relaxing for me.

It's something that I absolutely love to do.

I paint almost every day, really, really enjoy it.

And the feeling that it gives me, knowing that perhaps the piece I'm working on will end up in someone's home or office and bring them enjoyment for years to come.

- When did you first start expressing yourself as an artist?

- I started, honestly, in fourth grade, and my fourth grade teacher was very influential and encouraging regarding my art.

Of course, we just did a little projects in the classroom, but she must have seen something there because all through my high school days, my middle school days, she continued to encourage me to do art.

- Where do you find inspiration?

- I find it, honestly, in my life experience.

One of my favorite subjects to paint are florals.

And so, I draw great inspiration from our gardens and the beautiful flowers that we have.

And again, I have to go back to my fourth grade teacher.

Every time I paint, I think of her and I thank her.

It's truly inspirational.

She was a very big influence in my art at such a young age.

- Let's talk about "The Shores of Lake Michigan."

That's one of your paintings.

Tell me about that.

- I grew up on Lake Michigan.

The beautiful water, the dunes were something that left a big impression on me.

Again, that was a piece from my mind's eye as I remember it from my time there.

- And do you have a process when you're doing that?

- It is primarily in my mind's eye.

I do work from photographs from time to time, photographs I've taken in my travels.

But most of my work is from my mind's eye.

It's just a great feeling, especially when you start a painting, because in many ways, you don't know really how it's gonna end up.

And you know in your mind's eye how you want it to end up.

But sometimes, as Bob Ross used to say, "You make a happy mistake and it turns out great."

- So Michael, are there techniques that you use when you're painting?

- Yes, I use two techniques, the brush and the pallet knife, and the entire painting is done with that knife.

So depending on the subject matter determines whether I use a brush or a pallet knife.

The pallet knife gives you great texture and depth, where a brush gives you a more smooth effect.

- [Kim] Now describe your painting "Trio."

- "Trio" is one that, again, was in inspired by our flower garden and my love for flowers.

That piece is one of my personal favorites.

It's very detailed piece, which is rather unusual for me.

I consider myself an impressionist, which is not known for high detail.

- You know, in reviewing all your work, it's hard to pick favorites, but you know, you always look at people's work and say, oh, this is my favorite.

I loved "Merry and Bright."

- Oh, yes, "Merry and Bright."

Well, again, that was inspired for my love for the holiday.

We're big holiday people here, we decorate.

And I just had an idea of how to paint a little different kind of Christmas tree.

And I think it's cheery and it makes me smile and I hope it makes other people smile.

- So Michael, when you get out into the community, what's that like for you meeting fans or meeting people who just somehow connected with your art?

- Well, it's wonderful.

I do art shows throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

But the people that you meet, it's a never ending flow of interest and just really nice way to meet people.

And they usually like to discuss my art.

So it's a great way to meet new people and connect through art.

- So Michael, I'm talking to you here as an artist.

So have you always been an artist?

- I've always been an artist, but not always in the same genre.

I've had three careers in my life and I've been fortunate to love them all.

One thing I learned about myself pretty early on, for me to be happy, I have to be doing something creative, something artistic.

So my first job was in advertising and marketing.

Following that, I'm a professional figure skater.

I skated with Holiday on Ice from 1975 'til 1978.

And I brought something to show you, I don't know how well you can see it.

(Kim chuckles) I'm showing you this, not because of the bejeweled costume or the fact that I'm four feet off the ice.

I'm showing you this because of the hairstyle.

- Yeah (laughing).

- The Afro was in back in the '70s.

So in came the Afro and out came the perm rods.

- I had a perm too (laughing).

- Oh, there you go.

And my last career, I went back to school, got my cosmetology license, opened my own hair salon in our home.

And there's nothing better than making people feel better about themselves.

That's the main thing I derived from that career, which lasted 25 years.

- Well, Michael, it's been so much fun talking to you.

So thank you so much for taking some time and sharing a little bit about yourself today.

I really appreciate it.

- Oh, it's been my pleasure.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

(mellow guitar music) - [Narrator] Support for "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

(upbeat bright music) ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ (upbeat bright music)