LBCC ceramics professor Renee McKitterick holds close her loving family of makers; her pattern maker grandfather, seamstress grandmother, and musician father. It was her family that fostered her creative gifts by example.
McKitterick is the caring daughter that took care of her father at the end of his life. He passed away from cancer. She was just out of high school and starting college as her father got sick, creating a tectonic shift in her life. He was the “biggest thing” in her life.
“He was such a supportive dad, especially when it came to creativity as he was a local legend musician. He had a classic ’70s rock vibe. He played drums, bass, clarinet, and sang; a multi-talented musician.”
When she sees students that are going through life shifts, she can’t help but relate.
“She fosters an environment where students feel comfortable to learn, and a safe place to express their true selves,” said ceramic student Hope Cooper. “She is encouraging, supportive, and patient, encouraging students to explore their own creative style and positively supports them along the way. Her passion for ceramics is contagious.”
It was in grad school that she was encouraged to explore creatively and became known for her sculptures. She works in a host of mediums, such as photography, painting, designing wallpaper, but the tactile process of clay is her passion.
In the classroom, McKitterick said, she doesn’t feel so much like a “teacher” as much as the leader of a collaboration. She knew she wanted to be a professor by age 19 because of the environment of life that academics creates. She provides her students the tools to succeed, while simultaneously allowing failure to be safe and OK.
Preferably referred to as Renee, she has been teaching ceramics for 13 years, providing a space and opportunity to be creative, safe and fun.
“A space for artists to do their thing and support each other,” she said.
Ceramics is hard but thanks to Renee’s efforts, students have the elegant path from structure to planning and to wheel. Students learn all about where clay comes from and how the firing process works.
Much of Renee’s experience came from “learning from her mentors at Ohio State, which has a huge ceramics department.” Ceramics used to be considered an industry and it wasn’t until the 1970s was it considered fine art.
Her goal is to continue to expose students and community members to the experience of drinking from their own handmade cups. The “wild” experience of being a maker.
Renee often refers to her favorite poem – “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver – which she quotes:
You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Renee describes the meaning of this poem as “we belong to a larger connection to one another to this Earth, that you get to belong to this flock of geese.”
