Therman Statom's "Stories about Learning" at Ringling College

There's a work I seek out at Imagine Museum each time I visit. It's a colorful glass house that never fails to captivate me. The artist is Therman Statom. Needless to say, I was excited to learn that Ringling College was hosting an entire exhibit of Statom's art. It is special. 

Statom considers himself a painter who uses glass as his canvas. "If I had my way, I'd paint on air," he has said. Not surprisingly, Statom's houses have a very airy feel, both because they have openings that simulate doors and windows and because you can see through the glass. What was surprising is the life size glass house that greets visitors when they enter the gallery. You can actually walk into the work to admire it from all perspectives. It is amazing. But I've gotten ahead of myself. 

Some kids seem destined for great things. Statom was not one of them. He was what we refer to as a "problem child." He went to six different high schools in his hometown of Washington, D.C.  But unlike most kids who cut class, when Statom left school he headed to the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art. Statom spent so much time there that he considered the Smithsonian an extension of his home. "It's where I found myself," he has said.

Wanda inside Statom's life sized house 

Statom's frequent presence at the Freer did not go unnoticed. The curator there engaged with the budding artist and gave him a job mixing clay. It was the start to his career. While studying at RISD, Statom was introduced to glass. He immediately felt a connection with the medium. He went on to study at Pilchuck Glass School and Pratt Institute. It turns out Statom actually loved school so long as he was studying a subject that engaged him. 

Education continues to be a huge part of Statom's life. When looking for interviews with the artist, it was hard to find ones in which he talks about himself and his art. Instead, he speaks about his involvement with arts education, which he has said gives his work greater meaning. He considers teaching the highest form of advocacy. 

Craft in America created a wonderful video about Statom's work with students that I found particularly inspiring. It shows the artist working with two very different groups of kids -- Indigenous kindergarten-aged children and Sudanese and Black high school students. With the younger kids, he was creating a large bench in the shape of a medicine wheel. (In Native American cultures, the medicine wheel represents the importance of balance between our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves.) When you were in school, you might have made a handprint in clay in art class. And so did these children, but the recesses of their handprints would be filled with glass and embedded in the bench. In this way, they would literally become a part of their school forever (or at least so long as the bench was there). Statom said he hoped a positive educational experience such as this might help offset the history of Native American residential schools these kids will learn about when they're older. 

The high school students had a more adult art experience, painting and even blowing glass. Before they started, their teacher asked the kids whether they felt perfection was necessary. Almost all of the students raised their hands and, when asked, expressed the view that perfection was necessary to achieve their goals. Statom couldn't believe it. "It's okay to mess up," he said, "In messing up, you learn and refine your aesthetics." To give kids permission to try something new without the pressure of doing it "right" is a real gift. To watch the interview, click here. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Statom worked with the Ringling students. 

"Therman Statom: Stories about Learning" is on display at Ringling College's Willis Smith Gallery through March 24. The galleries are open from 9-3 on Monday-Friday. Get there if you can. And if you do make it, be sure to stop in next door for the latest iteration of the Basch Gallery's annual glass exhibit. This year's works are all variations on the theme of circles and spheres. For more information about all the exhibits on now at the College, click here.