INCEPTION is a group show that highligts the art educators at the Firehouse Art Center. These sixteen artists create in a wide range of mediums and teach classes in just as wide a range. The works honor the seed or spark of imagination that these educators plant in their students, one that hopefully grows into a lifelong love of creating.

“January is a time for new beginnings, and that is true at the Firehouse Art Center. The Firehouse is unveiling a new calendar of education opportunities as well as a full ceramics studio, complete with 6 wheels.”, states Elaine Waterman, the Firehouse Art Center’s Executive Director. “These big changes are a bit scary, but also very exciting.”.

The classes offered range in skill level, from the Basics of Drawing, taught by Charis Lillene Fleshner, to more advanced techniques, such as glaze mixing and surface design for ceramics, to be taught by Valerie Langlois of Prims Pottery.

“The Firehouse has been around for 36 years, and many times people have returned to tell me that they took classes here when they were a child, and that those instructors instilled in them a passion for art. To me, that is a huge compliment and we wanted to showcase the people that make that possible.”, shares Waterman. “But the classes are not just for kids, we can’t let them have all the fun!”.

In INCEPTION, multiple artists work with unconventional materials, showing the boundless nature of creativity. Through unique fabrication, Steffie Notion and Elaine Waterman push the boundaries on what is fashion. Makenzie Davis uses traditional papermaking techniques but plays with the sculptural elements. Charis Lillene Fleshner uses realistic drawing techniques of her Dirty Laundry to reframe the banal into the language of the unsaid. Each artist educator shows the viewer what they can expect to create in class, but with a twist that also reveals who they are as a creative.