QUACKENBUSH continued from 21 photo by Paige Langenderfer
him to his first T. C. Steele Great Outdoor Art Contest.
“ Just being around that many incredibly talented artists at one time and watching them work was really inspiring to me,” Dylan said.“ My grandma was probably my biggest advocate. She really encouraged me to become an artist.”
After high school, Dylan enrolled in the Herron School of Art at IUPUI to study illustration and anatomical drawings.
“ The program didn’ t fit [ me ], so I ended up transferring to IU to get a degree in elementary education to follow in my grandma’ s footsteps,” Dylan said.
The road to his career in ceramics began while registering for an elective art class.
“ I couldn’ t get into the painting or drawing classes that I wanted because they were all full,” he said.“ The only opening was in a general ceramics class.”
Dylan said the first time he sat down at the ceramics wheel he knew life was about to change.
“ Right away I realized that I was better at this than any craft I had ever tried,” he said.“ I became consumed. I would stay up all night working on projects in the studio.”
Besides enjoying the process, Dylan also liked that the finished project was functional.
“ I liked how you could see results after just a few minutes on the wheel,” he said.“ And it was cool knowing that I was making something that I could use later.”
In just his second semester of ceramics, the studio coordinator of The Grunwald Gallery of Art at IU encouraged Dylan to make a career change.
“ He said I was really good and that I needed to change my major and focus on ceramics,” Dylan said.“ It felt really good to hear a compliment from someone who really knew art.”
Soon after, Dylan changed his major to fine arts with a focus on ceramics.
“ There was a lot of studio time, but there were also a lot of science classes, which surprised me,” Dylan said.“ We had to learn how glazes work and how to make them do the things you want them to do.”
While all of his professors were well known ceramists, Malcolm Mobutu Smith influenced Dylan the most. Smith is an associate professor of ceramic art at IU and his works are represented in numerous
22 Our Brown County • Jan./ Feb. 2021