We were lucky to catch up with Kelly Phelps recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I have the unique experience of having an identical twin brother whom I shared nearly everything with. From the very start we were always very creative and making things with our hands . The problem was we grew up in an artless factory town. Growing up in the mid-west there was a certain expectation to take the factory jobs that paid a decent living and that became your livelihood. At the time if your parents worked at factories like GM, Ford, Chrysler or the local steel mills, manufacturing plants,  and foundries they could get you employed and your career would be set.

It wasn’t until high school my twin brother and I wanted to do something creative and different. Most people in our town worked in the many manufacturing plants, steel mills, and warehouses until the bottom fell out and many of those once plentiful jobs dried up and went away.  Industrial automation, outsourcing, and trade agreements such as NAFTA forced drastically changed to labor workforce. Our parents (factory workers themselves) encouraged us to pursue are dreams so after high school we attended college and took up fine art.

Kelly , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Identical twin brothers Kelly and Kyle Phelps are Professors at private Catholic universities in Ohio. Kelly Phelps is a Professor at Xavier University (Cincinnati) and Kyle is a Professor at University Dayton (Dayton) where they head the sculpture and ceramic departments.

Much of the twins’ ceramic based work is about the blue collar working-class, race relations, and the everyday struggles of the common man and woman. The twins continue to work collaboratively to create their artwork and share a studio in Centerville (OH). The twins share numerous grants, regional, national, and international exhibitions, and commissions. Their work is also included in many private and public collections as well as permanent museum collections across the United States. The twin’s work are included in major reviews in the world acclaimed Ceramics Monthly, Sculpture Magazine, and American Craft Magazine.

Before entering the world of academia, and becoming professors, the twins experienced firsthand what the struggles of the working class was really about! The twins grew up in a blue-collar/factory environment in a “company town” in Indiana where they were inspired by family members and friends who worked and lived in various manufacturing plants, steel mills, foundries, coal mines, and railroads of the American mid-west, rustbelt, and Appalachian regions of the United States. These everyday people became working class heroes that have inspired nearly three decades of working-class art that continues to this very day.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is the ability to connect and empathize with people. Art has a way of communicating with its viewer on many different levels. Being visual artist allows us to connect with total strangers regardless of language, cultural barriers, religious, preferences, class etc.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A hard lesson that every artist has to contend with is justifying art as “real” thing. Making art is a “real” activity. Being an artist is a “real” vocation. Being an art major in college is a “real” major. An art degree is a “real” academic degree. We (visual artist) are the makers of literally everything! From a painting in museum to your toilet in your bathroom and everything in between. The exhausting part is the constant explaining, defending, and justifying to society of its importance, and value.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: kyle_and_kelly_phelps
• Youtube: https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2022/11/18/twin-sculptors-inspired-by-working-class

Image Credits
K&K PHELPS