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Eric Rempe | Episode 1110
Eric Rempe first touched clay when he was in high school in Lancaster, PA. Eric has a BFA in ceramics from Penn State University and an MFA in ceramics from San Diego State University. Eric now lives in Princeton, NJ and he teaches ceramics at Princeton Day School.
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Why is it that teachers are able to make such a big impact?
I think students that are ready to hear a particular message, that’s when you can have the biggest impact and that might happen in a science classroom or an art classroom, a garden, a lot of places. I think they are developing a sense of who they are and you might be there at that right moment with that right thought.
If you could finish this sentence what word would you use and why? I am not teaching clay, I am teaching _____.
Belief in themselves. Because I think it is the first step to teaching so many other aspects of what you want to teach.
You just finished Empty Bowls. Why do you think something as humble as ceramics could have the impact of 250,000 meals?
I think because it brings so many people together from the making side of it, so for example I make 50 bowls that are really, really smooth that are meant for drawing and I ask for faculty volunteers that want to draw and people come out of the wood work for those. I give them underglaze pencils and they draw and my students draw on an iPad and turn them into decals and all these people from different parts of the community come together on one night. It celebrates the school and at the same time makes a significant difference for other people.
Why is ceramics important for the student who may not be interested in a career in ceramics or teaching ceramics?
I would say that is probably true for most students. I don’t think a huge amount of my students are going to go on and make a living at it or anything. I have a lot of students who stay in touch with me and it’s a part of their life and they have Instagram accounts and post their pottery, but they haven’t become full time potters. I am not in the business of trying to place kids in college programs, I am in the business of trying to get kids to believe in themselves. So that belief in themselves can have pretty far reaching impact.
What makes a high school program important for the student that wants to go on to be a professional artist?
I’ve got one, she started with me in eighth grade and then took four years with me in upper school. So I got to work with her for four and half years and she got accepted into a fine arts program for ceramics and she has gone on and she’s someone who can do it. She has a tremendous amount of drive and a tremendous amount of belief in herself.
Why clay for you?
If we are setting teaching aside and just talking about what has kept me making pots all these years is the number of times I get emails or texts or photographs of my pots being used and people will say some variation of the message, I use your mug every single morning and if it’s dirty and I have ten clean ones in the cupboard I’ll wash your dirty one because I don’t want to use the other ones. I am not solving world problems with my pots but they are important enough in someone’s life that is making that moment in the morning more rich in some way, or more meaningful in some way.
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Instagram: @rempepottery