Ernie Kind was only 11 when college recruiters scouted him after seeing his drawings from a comic book he created.
“When they realized I was 11 years old, they went away, and my parents never pursued that,” Kind said.
Decades later, with lifelong art experience under his belt, Kind is a faculty member at WSU’s School of Art, Design and Creative Industries and specializes in fiber arts.
This week’s Senior Wednesday event at the Ulrich Museum of Art was led by Kind and created in conjunction with the Andersen gallery exhibit “[RE]POSE: Leisure Bodies and Empowered Postures.” There, Kind shared a piece of the world of fiber arts with attendees.
The exhibit, which examines the theme of the reclining figure, replaced the typical nude woman display with a nude felt doll in collaboration with the workshop.
Attendees were led to the upper level of the McKnight Art Center to make their own felt figure, assisted by Kind and Ulrich staff.
Kind showed participants how to stretch fiber, wet it with a mixture of dish soap and water to turn it into a human shape, and roll it in plastic — like a roll cake — to get it ready for stuffing.
“Everybody is an artist,” Kind said about the process. “I don’t care whether they deny it or not.”
The event, while intended as a learning experience, drew out connections between some students beyond the surface level.
A group of women sat down together as strangers but quickly found shared beliefs and opinions. They began to talk and laugh as they helped each other with their figures.
“I’m just thrilled to be learning something new,” Stephanie Purdy, one of the women, said. “It’s just really great to be here … with a table of like-minded women.”
Deb McArthur, a long-time Senior Wednesday attendee, noted the importance of holding events that open students up to new artistic experiences.
“Here, we get to make art often, as well as learn or see it out,” McArthur said. “And I think that makes it very special.”
