Renowned sculptor George Rodriguez visited the Williston Northampton School campus at the start of October as the second Grum Project visiting artist of the year, using his experiences with clay to connect with students in our arts classrooms. 

Rodriguez spent a three-day weekend at Williston, sitting in ceramics classes and delivering an artist’s talk on Friday night, and then hosting open studio sessions over the weekend. Rodriguez worked specifically on a sculpture of a Wildcat, and encouraged students attending the sessions to make their own versions of a Wildcat—Williston’s school mascot. 

“One of the things that I try to do is relate to the students,” Rodriguez said. “How can I engage the community? The Wildcat—that’s an easy engagement because it’s the mascot and everybody can identify with that one thing, but everybody will interpret it differently. I try and bring that into my teaching—let’s start where we are all kind of together on something, then let’s expand from that.” 

Rodriguez is no stranger to the classroom. He currently teaches at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also travels around the country to showcase his work and techniques, often at schools. His work—which can be as large as six feet tall—has been displayed at various museums. The Smithsonian Institute has acquired two of his ceramic sculptures which pay tribute to the classic painting American Gothic and the Kansas City Airport features another display of his work. 

“I like to engage with young people and see what the pulse is, what they’re thinking about,” Rodriguez said. “They’re making things happen and I like to know that they’re being supported and I like to know what they’re up to. For me, it’s also a learning experience when I come to these places.” 

Rodriguez’s favorite medium is clay. Playing with a bit of the material during the interview, Rodriguez talked about what makes clay special to him. 

“Initially it was that clay is really receptive to the touch,” he said. “Whatever I do with my hands, it’s recorded in clay.. I love pottery, too, but sculpture for me is what really drew me in. I like to make larger scale work that’s more physical for me, because then I can use my body and it feels like a very one-to-one relationship.” 

Rodriguez focused on that relationship when working with students. Encouraging the student-artists to just create, the ceramics studio was busy with the sound of moving hands forming clay. Along the way, Rodriguez popped in with tips and tricks for students to get more out of the material. He also created a couple of demonstration pieces to demonstrate different sculpting technique, and showcase what can be created out of clay. 

In his artist’s talk, Rodriguez focused even more on his creative process and what drives him to make sculptures. 

“I hope that people come away feeling like they can pursue their creative practice, whatever that is,” he said. “I’m really passionate about the work that I make, but it really is a focus on pursuing what you want to do and relying on community to help guide you, because we can’t really do it by ourselves.” 

Learn more about Rodriguez and his work on his website. See photos of his visit to campus on our Flickr page.