Traci Kelly
Most people who live in Tucson have awakened to an inspiring sunlit morning. Few, I would imagine, have been asked to conduct an interview with an artist, who for decades, has sought to: “work on something bigger than myself,” and “for it to exist beyond my lifetime.” It is a challenge, of course, to capture that range in a small quintet of questions. More challenging, however, is the fact that our featured artist, Traci Kelly, happens to be someone I’ve known for 28 years. I’m quite lucky to be a first hand witness, and sometimes, participant, in her extensive catalog of “doing” art throughout the decades. Classes and events, teaching and creating, students and teachers, young and old. My own professional life has grown richer in experience as a result of her busy hands piecing together her own style of art. On another level, I admit my personal sentiments written here may be skewed by the fact that Traci is my wife; but I can undoubtedly assure you that the paintings and mosaics, acrylics or oils, textiles or metals, found objects or clay, are created out of an authentic desire to “make” art. This is unmistakable! She is not herself when she’s not making art. She is set on discovering purpose in life by creating: an act we should all aspire to do each day. So, it is my delightful honor to present to you, my wife, Traci Kelly.
1. Your life blends so many roles — artist, teacher, board member, mother, volunteer coordinator, and digital systems-builder for the gallery. When you look at everything you do, what part of your work feels most connected to your purpose as an artist?
I’m incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities WomanKraft Art Center has opened up to me. Connecting with other artists has been invaluable. Artists often survive on their own and it can be an introspective life. I realize how important it is to make connections and spread our expressions throughout the community. It’s important to continue to be a voice of kindness, beauty and light in a time when the world can sometimes feel so dark.Tucson is an amazing community filled with vibrant, talented people. I hope that when others see my efforts it inspires them to engage with those around them and help others see the importance of celebrating the arts.
2. You’ve helped modernize the class booking system at WomanKraft. What motivated you to take on such transformative work, and how has it changed the way the community connects with the arts?
Streamlining our online booking system through Scadler was something that needed to be done. Many people saw the need but were reluctant because we all have busy lives or the technology was intimidating. When I officially became a boardmember, I thought, I’m going to really do some things that matter! Thankfully, with some help from Rene Stone, I was able to hit the ground running. She made some suggestions that really helped me get started. Getting our classes up on Scadlr was a big step and it streamlines our system while giving teachers agency to manage their rosters. I encourage you to scan the QR code on the front page of the Castle Voice and check it out for yourself.
3. As a feminist, educator, and creative person, how do those identities shape the environment you try to create for students and fellow artists at the gallery?
I want to reiterate that WomanKraft is for everybody! We love every gender, every ethnicity and every economic status. Art is for everyone and WomanKraft is an equitable organization. A classroom and gallery should be welcoming to all. I want people to feel safe in my classroom. Safe to express themselves, safe to relax and safe to enjoy the processes. I look at teaching as a reawakening of the memories within our soul. I’m only there to help people realize things they already knew. Those are the biggest moments of joy for me as a teacher.
4. Despite your packed schedule, how do you still carve out a couple of hours a month to make your own art?
Honestly, creativity comes in waves. All creative people get a block from time to time. I remember during the covid years, there was a period of at least 6-7 months that I lost the ability to make even a drawing.The collective conscience was hurting so badly. At this time in my life I feel a waterfall of inspiration washing over me wherever I look. I literally have a list of about 20 mosaic pieces lined up- and the materials to do them! I just lack the time. I also need to have all my ducks in a row to get to creating. I can’t have a to-do list lingering in the back of my head and create. With my busy life, I can barely find a moment to make my work outside of summer break. But I’m constantly plotting and planning. I’m extremely grateful to have a loving partner who supports me every step of the way. Without his backing I would never be able to make all of the commitments I make.
5. You’ve said that being a mother is your greatest joy. How does motherhood influence your artistic voice, your leadership, and the way you show up for the nonprofit community?
As an artist my grandest creation is my daughter, Penelope and my son, Hunter. They are the most amazing people I’ve ever known. Parenting is not easy when you’re trying to teach your children to be productive, happy and kind people. Thankfully, they’re perfect on their own. I know I spend too much time on my responsibilities at WomanKraft and teaching at Desert View High School but I hope that they can see that I’m working on something bigger than myself for the betterment of the community. I want the legacy of WomanKraft to live on and for it to exist beyond my lifetime and that’s the kind of world I want to leave to my children!
Artist Interview: Gerrie Young- Artist, Mother, Teacher
I am excited to announce our decision to revisit WomanKraft artist interviews in the Castle Voice. Looking for a little inspiration to help me generate some interesting questions I prompted Chat-GPT and it did not disappoint. Fingers crossed, here goes.
It’s my distinct honor to have the chance to sit down and talk with Gerrie Young the day after National Women’s day. This esteemed board member has been involved with WomanKraft since 1993 when she and her children came to help renovate the Castle before WomanKraft could even move into the building! Nikki, also a board member, and Jason were just 16 and 13 when Gerrie felt the pull to get them involved in the community.
You might know Gerrie as a ceramic artist but she is so much more. Her immeasurable involvement in our community reaches well beyond her role at WomanKraft. Gerrie currently has work in two shows at other galleries, teaches at Parks and Rec., serves on the board of WomanKraft and works with the Drawing Studio where she serves on that board and practices the art of printmaking. Go Gerrie! Gerrie’s perspective about how and why she creates art is refreshing:
“Originally, I started making my large pots because I wanted blind people to feel them… I wanted them to feel that there were faces/people in the clay… I want them to see that the faces weren’t exactly angular, that there was little bit of me in those faces and all the people I know from home which is Philadelphia, and people that I’ve met [in my life] and also my art school background was also in those pots… that [they were] mostly sculptural pots instead of a utility pot.” While many people spend a lifetime trying to find their purpose in life, Gerrie knew from the age of 9 that she wanted to be an artist. Though art classes weren’t always available to her in her teens, Gerrie explains, “all I could think about was when I go to college I will be an artist because this is where my head was.” From her very first college art class in her first week she felt that she had finally realized her dream, found her place, “and I remain in that field until present day”.
After graduating from Little Flower Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Gerri attended Temple University and earned a degree in Art Education. Later in life she added a masters in Art Education degree from Prescott College because she wanted to be a “well rounded” teacher. “I’m not limited to ceramics even though I am a potter. I do all areas because I teach all areas. I teach drawing and watercolor but I do most of my drawing through printmaking.”
Another AI prompted question told me to ask: Ceramics have a long history across many cultures. How do your own cultural roots influence the way that you work? Gerrie: “I feel like I come from lots of cultures and so I’m not really stuck in my own culture and I’m not stuck in the cultures where I have been… because my husband was in the Air Force and I would live all over the place. So it seems like every place I go I kind of mold myself to the activities of the culture that’s there and it has accumulated… there ‘s certain things I like about each culture that I’m in and I just kind of gravitate towards those things… when I go to different countries or cities I think you pick up things,” she continues, “ things that I buy, clothes that we buy it all comes from the cultures that we were in at the present and… when I go home to Philadelphia with my family, I go back to the culture that I was in… I start wearing big earrings, and speak the language [of that area] and wear the clothing that we wore,” she warmly reflected.
I wanted to dig deeper into her methods so I asked: Have you ever intentionally broken or altered one of your pieces to transform its meaning? Gerrie: “ I actually did that recently. I made a piece and it was supposedly a portrait and I thought it was one portrait but then when it was hanging in the show… I noticed that the picture had two people in it. One was a profile {and one was] a straightforward portrait and it just floored me because all these years I had not even thought of that. I hadn’t known that it was two people and now it’s like, I got to change the name of this piece now … and I was trying to think back because it was made a while ago. What was I thinking then? Why did it split now? That’s the magic of the arts.”
As a mom of two and wife of an Air Force officer, Gerrie remained true to her inner artist while balancing the duties of family life: “I think my experience is of being more worldly, more cultural. It kind of came from my husband being in the Air Force because I had to fend for myself, even though we were married (and we’ll be married for 50 years) and having two children [in tow]. But, I had to pick up the fort and I had to hold up while he was traveling all over the place.” When it comes down to it, Gerrie stays true to her life’s purpose even in the face of adversity and the pressures which surround married women and mothers. She tells me, “I also had to be myself and I always felt like I had to fight for the little piece that belongs to me, myself which was the artistic part of me and… I was not going to give up that part of me that I know I was born with.”
Finally, I asked her: If your ceramic work could speak, what would it say about the world today and the place of women of color within it? “Well, it probably would say that Gerrie Young was here… I have put my stamp on the world. This is me and either accept me or not!”
Make sure to check out Gerri’s three workshops at WomanKraft this trimester: Drawing Trees, Drawing with Black and White and Parts R Parts!
