October 11, 2000
'Art gets you back into wonderland'
Art lifelong learning process for area instructor Merrily Bauer
By Carol South
Herald Contributing writer
From potter and photographer to clothing designer, painter and teacher, Merrily Bauer's art education is a lifelong process. Though her art, interests and media continue to refine and evolve, one thing has stayed the same through the years: her joy in exploring and creating.
"Art is a real imagination journey with light and color, a love affair with light and color," said Bauer, a Yuba resident. "Art gets you back into wonderland. The need for art is beauty, it opens up people's hearts and shows the glory of life itself."
"Imagine a world without any art, it would be so boring."
Not one to keep a good thing to herself, Bauer is determined to share this journey into wonderland with others. Besides her own artistic pursuits, she has been an art teacher for 22 years, mostly to children and teenagers. She has taught in many settings, including public schools, adult education and a domestic violence shelter where the emphasis was on art therapy.
In her classes, she sees that sense of wonder and joy in art so clearly in the children, cherishing the times when their faces light up with the joy of their own creations. Even after more than two decades of teaching, she continues to marvel at this spark of excitement and learns something from her kids in every class.
"The children amaze me because they receive a lesson and you see the light go on, the great 'Ah Ha,' when all of a sudden they grab a hold of the materials with confidence," said Bauer, who also works part-time at the Stained Glass Cabinet Company in Acme. "I remember that moment and it stays with me for a really long time."
In Traverse City, Bauer is known as Mrs. B or Auntie B by hundreds of children who have taken the Creative Child Art classes she has taught for the past eight years at the Grand Traverse Art Center. In 16-week sessions, she introduces her young students to a wide variety of media, drawing from her own breadth and depth in art.
"I love the children's class because we meet for three hours and can have lunch and fellowship and have three hours to do art," Bauer said. "We have this cohesive art community that's formed from these classes, the numbers swell as soon as the colors drop."
Bauer is a native of Houghton in the Upper Peninsula and studied art, psychology and education at Northern Michigan University, Michigan Tech and University of Wisconsin. She noted that it is the years since formal schooling that have shaped her most as an artist and teacher.
"My real art education developed when I got out into the real world, working as a studio potter making bowls for restaurants," she said.
Bauer and her husband, Tom, led a nomadic life for many years. They followed his career with the State Department of Agriculture, moving approximately every four years, before settling in Traverse City area eight years ago.
They both love living in northern Michigan and, as the colors change this fall she is finding many ideas for paintings bubbling up. Her current project is a series of sunflower paintings.
Living near Traverse City also has other tangible benefits besides the surrounding natural beauty. The area is a haven for other artists and this large, diverse arts community provides input, feedback and inspiration.
"It has been quite a journey, I started in art just loving the colors God paints on Earth," Bauer said. "The art community is always a real interesting group of people. You're looking at people who have taken it all in through light and color, spirit and soul and combined it into a message. Everybody is unique in their expression and it's between the artist and God what comes out."