(Chelsea Update would like to thank Eli Zemper for the information in this story.)
Owner of Curiouser Clay, Eli Zemper, and Washtenaw Technical Middle College have been awarded a grant of $13,990 from the State of Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC) to fund a year-long artist-in-residence program called Storytelling in Clay.
The grant was awarded through the MACC peer review process and was one of 639 applications to compete for MACC fiscal year 2023 funding.
The Storytelling Through Clay project is intended to strengthen this social-emotional work and provide deeper foundations for authentic peer-to-peer connections. An additional benefit of this multi-disciplinary project is that it also connects to and strengthens curricular work in English and art.
Schools receiving a MACC grant award are required to match those funds with their own resources and funding. WTMC has always received significant volunteer support from the staff and community. Kyle Linford is the director of this year-long creative project with administrative assistance from Christine Williams.
Storytelling Through Clay is a year-long, three-part campus art project at Washtenaw Technical Middle College. Eli Zemper, owner of Curiouser Clay, a mobile community clay workshop provider based in Chelsea, is the artist- in-residence and lead facilitator for this project.
In part one, students will read excerpts from Amy Krouse Rosenthal’ Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life. Students will author a series of creative writings based on their own “ordinary” lives and will learn about creative language elements, storytelling, and structures. Students will share their writing through read-alouds and peer editing exercises.
In part two, students will develop one of their stories into a podcast script. After writing these scripts, students will record their stories and edit them on sound-editing software. By the end of part two, students will have a polished three-to-five-minute storytelling podcast that features a story about their own “ordinary life”. Students will download these MP4s and they will be assigned a QR code that will be used at the end of the project.
In part three, students will create ceramic sculptures that either realistically or symbolically depict an aspect of their story. Students will learn how to use clay as a medium to visually express content, theme, and emotion. Completed sculptures will be placed around campus.
The culmination of the project will include a campus sculpture walk that leads participants to sculptures around campus. Each sculpture will have a QR code that connects the viewer with the podcast so viewers can enjoy the storytelling podcast while viewing the sculpture.
A complete list of grant awards around the state is available by contacting MCACA at (517) 241-4011, or by visiting the MACC website at www.michigan.gov/arts.
