Morel Doucet: Storyteller, sculptor, educator, and artistic environmental activist

[00:00:00] So for a very long time I've been working with just pure white. I like the contrast, it gives them more of a Baroque kind of aesthetic when I'm documenting the actual work. And so as a viewer, you're focused strictly on the texture, the pattern, the lighting and the design.

[00:00:19] Hi, I'm Bob Acton and I'm pleased to introduce Morel Doucet to you in this episode. I met Morel when he presented a wonderful artist talk at the 37th Annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts produced by John Natsoulis through his gallery in Davis, California.

[00:00:39] His Emmy nominated work has been featured and reviewed in numerous publications, including Vogue Mexico, The New York Times, Oxford University Press, PBS, White Hot Magazine, and Ebony Magazine.

[00:00:56] Morel is a Miami based multidisciplinary artist and art educator who hails from Haiti. His work utilizes ceramics, illustrations, and prints to discuss the impact of

[00:01:09] climate gentrification, migration, and displacement affecting black communities in the African diaspora. Through a contemporary reconfiguration of the black experience, his work catalogs a powerful record of environmental decay at the intersection of economic inequality, pollution, and policy making.

[00:01:32] So let's get to the show. But don't forget to check out his work on his website and Instagram pages, and the links can be found in our show notes.

[00:01:41] Welcome to Color and Ceramics, the podcast for ceramic artists who want valuable ideas about using color from leading artists and world-class experts.

[00:01:51] Here's your host, Bob Acton, a sculptor and ceramic artist who's fascinated with color and how potters, sculptors, and artists use color in their work.

[00:02:01] Tune in as he talks with his guests about color, techniques, and the impact of color on people and art itself.

[00:02:07] Morel, you are both a ceramic artist, which really connects to me, and a painter and a person who does illustrations.

[00:02:17] And I love your strong use and strong messaging about black identity and the stories of vulnerability that emerged from your immigration to the U.S. from Haiti.

[00:02:31] And I'm super interested in your artistic conversations about sea levels and ocean pollution and so on.

[00:02:40] So we've got a lot to talk about, and I just wanted to really welcome you to the Color and Ceramics podcast.

[00:02:48] Thank you so much for having me. It's an absolute pleasure to be in a conversation with you.

[00:02:53] Well, yes, for me too. This is awesome. Hey, you know, this work that you're doing, this beautiful work that you're doing, has taken a long time.

[00:03:04] This is not something that just occurred overnight. You've been practicing hard and working hard at producing this work.

[00:03:10] Can you tell us a little bit about your journey in clay and how you got to here today?

[00:03:17] Absolutely. I would say my work as an artist is a lifetime of play.

[00:03:25] You know, as mentioned earlier, you know, I'm Haitian-American. I was born in Haiti.

[00:03:31] I grew up on a farm. You know, I was raised by my grandfather and my mom and dad were working.

[00:03:38] So my mom was an educator teaching math on the countryside. And then my dad worked in the medical field.

[00:03:48] Specifically, he was doing things between laboratory tech and he did a little bit of anesthesiology as well.

[00:03:55] And so because they were working and trying to provide for me, I was raised primarily by my grandparents.

[00:04:02] So I grew up calling my grandfather dad and my grandmother mom because that's who I grew up around the longest.

[00:04:10] And so around the time they were in Haiti. And this is in the, I'll say in the early to mid 80s.

[00:04:18] You know, there was a lot of political turmoil in the country.

[00:04:22] And so as a result of that, my dad got caught up and was arrested and was in prison.

[00:04:28] And the entire ordeal was very traumatic for my mom.

[00:04:34] And so eventually the U.S. intervened and my parents were offered political asylum.

[00:04:42] And so within like a 72-hour window, they had to pack their entire lives and pluck it, uproot it, and move to an entirely new country.

[00:04:56] I believe, you know, we went through like the DR, caught a plane, and then they were dropped in Mobile, Alabama.

[00:05:04] And so it was a complete shock.

[00:05:07] Culturally, the environment was different. The food was different.

[00:05:12] And, you know, it had a very profound impact on me as a young child.

[00:05:18] You know, at that time, I was probably age four going on to age five.

[00:05:23] And so my parents spent about six months in Mobile, Alabama.

[00:05:28] And so it became too much.

[00:05:30] And so they decided to migrate down to South Florida, where they had a growing Haitian community in the 90s.

[00:05:39] And they have lived there since the early 1990s.

[00:05:46] And so, you know, growing up, being Haitian American, there was a lot of ups and downs.

[00:05:51] You know, coming from political turmoil, having to navigate what it means to be American, what does it mean to be Haitian, what does it mean to be perceived Black.

[00:06:04] There's all these different identities and hats that I've had to grow up, trying to assimilate, trying to blend in.

[00:06:12] And so I think the work that I make as an artist today is reflection of that complexity and having to navigate these different identities.

[00:06:23] Now, that is, as I was saying to you before we started the recording here, that I can only imagine how difficult that is to make that transition.

[00:06:34] Yeah, absolutely. It was really difficult.

[00:06:37] I was the eldest of three.

[00:06:41] And so growing up, you know, I had a very fast paced childhood because I had to learn very complicated text documents to help my parents translate and navigate the day to day experience.

[00:06:57] And so this is where I guess art came in.

[00:07:00] Like art was my escape from the norm of having to assimilate.

[00:07:05] Art gave me the freedom, the agency to be free and imagine and dream.

[00:07:11] And so in that moment is when I kind of had like my own voice.

[00:07:16] And what happened was I had a visual arts teacher in elementary school that saw this very raw and innate talent in me.

[00:07:25] And then she pulled my mom to the side one day and told my mom that there were these specialized art schools that were popping up.

[00:07:33] And they would take a student like myself, cultivate their raw talent and eventually guide them into a career or path.

[00:07:42] And so, you know, my mom being an educator, if it was an opportunity that would excel me academically, she says, why not?

[00:07:50] You know, so I auditioned in elementary school and I got into the magnet art program.

[00:07:57] And that was really the path of me being an artist today.

[00:08:01] So from fifth grade to high school, I've been in a specialized art program that really exposed me to a variety of artistic disciplines.

[00:08:13] From photography, ceramic, printmaking to foundation like painting and drawing as well.

[00:08:21] Wow.

[00:08:22] That that's really lucky in a way that you ran into that teacher, isn't it?

[00:08:27] Yeah.

[00:08:28] Yeah.

[00:08:29] A lot of my.

[00:08:31] Like, I give thanks to all of my teachers, you know, they've been really incredible in being a stepping stone to kind of usher me into these different paths.

[00:08:42] And even when I did not even there are things that they saw in me when I was younger that I didn't see.

[00:08:48] Like, I remember one teacher told me in middle school that I would be a great educator and I completely blew it off.

[00:08:56] And then years later, I ended up working as a museum educator for 10 years before I step aside to focus on my work as an artist.

[00:09:08] So, yeah.

[00:09:09] So these teachers, they have this foresight in students and then they just see something in you when you don't see it at that kind of age.

[00:09:19] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:09:20] And in a way, it seems like your art is really an educational process for those of us who get a chance to view it.

[00:09:30] Yeah, I would say that, you know, I always call my work a double edged sword where it entices and lures the view of beauty, but it reminds them of their complacency of the dying environment.

[00:09:44] As a former museum educator, you know, for me, a work should be able to live on its own without a heavy didactic.

[00:09:54] I think if a work needs to be explained in text form, then as an artist, you've missed the mark.

[00:10:00] The viewer should have the agency to dream and sit with the work and have their own sense of connection.

[00:10:06] And then text explanation can follow after.

[00:10:09] But the viewer should have that permission and autonomy first to walk around the work, sit with it and make sense of it.

[00:10:18] Absolutely.

[00:10:19] And I think really sometimes people think the art stops when you finish a piece, but really the art continues on into the viewer's experience with it.

[00:10:29] Absolutely.

[00:10:30] Absolutely. And those are really the work that have the most impact for me is when the viewer can walk away and they're able to insert their own lived experience into the work.

[00:10:40] So that's how that creates change, because from a environmental aspect, you know, when you're working with things like climate change, seawater rise, global warming, these are very heavy topics.

[00:10:53] And a lot of people are turned off by those topics.

[00:10:56] But there's other ways to make it accessible without being overbearing.

[00:11:01] And so I try to do that with the work that I make.

[00:11:04] Absolutely. And I think it's very effective because you're coming at those conversations through beauty as opposed to through pictures of horror that we often see when people are talking about climate difficulties and pollution and so on.

[00:11:19] Mm-hmm.

[00:11:21] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:11:22] Hey, you know, you said you had experiences throughout your extensive training and printmaking and ceramics and photography and painting and so on.

[00:11:32] You had the whole gamut.

[00:11:33] Why did you pick ceramics as a central force for you?

[00:11:38] Oh, man. So it didn't really. So my foundation is painting and drawing, but ceramic, you know, as a medium, it offered something that the other disciplines did not for me.

[00:11:52] For me, it was very tangible.

[00:11:54] I'm growing up back in Haiti.

[00:11:56] The land, especially where I come from, is this red iron oxide color.

[00:12:02] And so I grew up around clay my entire life and I never knew you could manipulate this mud and convert it into beauty.

[00:12:13] And so it felt tangible.

[00:12:17] It was tangible and it was something that I knew since my childhood.

[00:12:25] And then, you know, just in general, ceramic as a medium is interlaced into our human history.

[00:12:30] You know, ceramic, without it, a large majority of that history would be missing.

[00:12:37] You know, so when you think about the archaeology, when they go into certain sites, we're able to learn so much about our past because of what is left behind.

[00:12:46] So we can learn about the dietary need of that culture.

[00:12:50] We can learn about ceremonies, rituals, the medicine that they took.

[00:12:55] So much of our human history is bound to ceramic.

[00:13:00] And really, for me, it's the only medium that transcends that.

[00:13:03] You know, ceramic has a tie to our economics.

[00:13:07] You know, with porcelain, there's a time where it had the same monetary value as gold.

[00:13:11] You can use it for status.

[00:13:14] And so, and then when you think about ceramic in this sense of magical realism, if you want to tie it to religion, the Bible, I'm thinking about we come from the earth.

[00:13:23] When we die, we go back into the earth.

[00:13:26] And so you're working with this medium that is infinite.

[00:13:30] And it transcends space and time.

[00:13:32] And we come from dust and then we return back to dust.

[00:13:36] And so because of that, ceramic for me is a standout medium that the other discipline does not offer.

[00:13:45] It's really a cycle, isn't it?

[00:13:47] It's a complete system and cycle with ceramics and the earth and dust as you talk about it.

[00:13:53] And in a way, I guess, maybe I'm stretching this, but in a way, some of the things that really inspire you are about a system as well or about a circle of life, whether it's the oceans that we're talking about or whether it's people and their connection to their place in time.

[00:14:15] Yeah, I'll say that that's definitely one aspect of the work.

[00:14:20] You know, there's so many nuances in everything that we live.

[00:14:24] And so sometimes they manifest as a system or sometimes it's a cycle.

[00:14:30] So it takes on different form depending on what we are talking about.

[00:14:34] Can you tell us a little bit about what inspires you?

[00:14:37] You know, there's a lot that inspires you, I think.

[00:14:40] And because your work is very complex and has some strong nuances.

[00:14:45] Can you talk a little bit about what inspires you to do the work that you're doing today?

[00:14:51] So I would say, so I'm going to go to a point in college, actually.

[00:14:56] So I went to school at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.

[00:15:00] And for a very long time, my initial major was illustration.

[00:15:06] And so as an illustrator, you know, you're assigned an art director.

[00:15:10] The art director gives you the directions of what they want or they're looking for.

[00:15:15] And so as a young artist, I had the technical skills to do whatever I wanted.

[00:15:22] But then it got to a point where I was no longer interested in what people wanted me to do,

[00:15:27] where I wanted to kind of tell my own stories.

[00:15:30] And so for me, that was like a turning point where I went from being a...

[00:15:37] What's the word for it?

[00:15:38] I went from being an usher of being told what to do to being like my own guiding force.

[00:15:47] And so when it comes to interest, at the core of my work is the connection between man and nature

[00:15:54] and in simple terms.

[00:15:57] But then in terms of the complexities, you know, I really think that within our lifetime,

[00:16:04] you know, we're going to like for states like Florida, for example,

[00:16:08] like we're one of the ground...

[00:16:09] We're one of the states in the U.S. that's ground zero for climate change.

[00:16:14] You know, I see it right now with hurricanes, when we have certain tides,

[00:16:19] how the ocean water comes into entire neighborhoods.

[00:16:23] There's fish, there's octopus coming in.

[00:16:25] And so for me, the work that I make is about...

[00:16:29] It's a reflection of real work.

[00:16:31] And it's a reflection of the impact that's happening in real time.

[00:16:36] And so because of that, as an artist, I have the obligation to remind my community

[00:16:44] and the world around me of what is going on.

[00:16:47] You know, and in these conversations of climate change,

[00:16:51] there's not a lot of people that look like me.

[00:16:53] And so as an artist, I have the agency to go into a certain space

[00:16:57] and make those connections for people that may not have the agency to be there.

[00:17:03] So that's very powerful.

[00:17:05] Now, tell us, you've had...

[00:17:08] You do a lot of different kinds of work to get that message across.

[00:17:13] Can you talk a little bit about the work itself?

[00:17:16] Yes.

[00:17:17] So I work in different series, I would say.

[00:17:22] So if you're on my website, there's different categories of different kinds of work that I do.

[00:17:27] And so these series can vary over within a span of six months to a span of two years or more.

[00:17:35] And so right at this point in time, for this particular year, I'm focusing on public art.

[00:17:43] And this is a new avenue for me as an artist to use public fun as a way to create some kind of legacy

[00:17:54] that is going to instill a sense of responsibility in the work that I'm making in connection to the landscape.

[00:18:03] So one example is I'm developing these custom pool tiles for a mix of up in housing that will have both workforce housing and low-income housing.

[00:18:14] And so I'm using elements of the environment to reinterpret them as a permanent symbolism in the pool house.

[00:18:21] So while these people are working in their time of leisure, when they're in the pool house near the pool,

[00:18:30] there'll be different symbolisms inspired by the environment to remind them of nature.

[00:18:36] And then another special project that I'm working on is a project for a brand new courthouse in downtown Miami.

[00:18:44] And this project is for one of the waiting rooms.

[00:18:48] And so I'm recreating one of our ecosystem as this giant landscape piece that I'm working on.

[00:18:54] And that'll be another piece that will cement the Florida landscape.

[00:18:59] So let's say in 20 years, we lose part of the Everglades or something happened.

[00:19:04] This work will capture a little bit of that essence of what the Everglades was about.

[00:19:09] Wow, that's very interesting.

[00:19:11] And that really reflects a big change from some of your previous work.

[00:19:16] I know when I've reviewed your work, there's a lot of porcelain that you've used that's very fine and in detail that's precious in lots of ways and easy to break, I would bet.

[00:19:29] Whereas when you're doing the kind of work you're doing now, it has to have a different element to it.

[00:19:36] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:19:37] And that's what has been that journey for me.

[00:19:41] I say I'm a student of life.

[00:19:43] I'm a student of experiences.

[00:19:46] And so with each series that I produce, I'm able to learn from it, go back and pull the highlights or the strongest elements from those past projects.

[00:19:56] And those can inform new things that I'm working on.

[00:19:59] And so as somebody goes through my website or my body of work, you're able to see this evolution.

[00:20:07] You're able to trace one moment in a series and how that's going to form a new project.

[00:20:13] And so because of that, you know, I'm particular about certain projects that I take on.

[00:20:22] You know, I always tell my students, you know, as an educator, not every good opportunity.

[00:20:27] Not every opportunity is a good moment for you.

[00:20:29] And so sometimes you have to learn how to say no or pass it on to somebody else who could benefit from that experience.

[00:20:37] And so, yeah.

[00:20:39] Yeah, that's very interesting.

[00:20:40] I I'm sort of listening to you talk about your work as a series of projects, as opposed to maybe doing the same thing repeatedly.

[00:20:50] And often in ceramics and in pottery, many people adopt the make many pieces similar.

[00:20:58] And whereas you do things in a project manner, how do you think about it or how do you select?

[00:21:06] Maybe it's the best way of saying this.

[00:21:08] Yeah.

[00:21:08] How do you select the project?

[00:21:10] Because a person like you probably has a million ideas about what could be done.

[00:21:15] So of this myriad of things that you could be doing, how do you select the one thing that you'll work on for six months or two years?

[00:21:24] Yeah.

[00:21:25] So a lot of my work or all of my work is inspired by writing.

[00:21:31] So I hold a minor in creative writing.

[00:21:33] And so a lot of my brainstorming happens on the paper.

[00:21:37] So it could be in a form of haikus, of three verse poems or some kind of academic text that I start with.

[00:21:47] And so I can sit with the text.

[00:21:50] I can write about it.

[00:21:51] And in front of that, that is what essentially informs the art making.

[00:21:55] And so, for example, like my two previous solo shows are allegories to understanding what's been happening with the environment.

[00:22:04] So my first solo show that I had back, my first solo show in Miami was titled Water Greaves in the Six Shades of Death.

[00:22:14] No, actually, that's my, sorry, I missed up.

[00:22:17] That was my last show in Baltimore.

[00:22:20] But my first show was called White Noise, When Raindrop Whispers and Moonlight Screams in Silent.

[00:22:27] And so I use these allegories to tell stories about what is happening around me.

[00:22:33] And that is how I'm able to entice the viewer into the world that I'm trying to build through different series.

[00:22:41] And so, yeah, so in simple terms, I write about the work and then the writing informs the series.

[00:22:50] So the idea emerges through your writing that you then translate into ceramics, if we're talking about ceramics at the moment.

[00:23:00] Yes.

[00:23:01] Oh, isn't that interesting?

[00:23:02] Now, can you tell us a little bit more about that?

[00:23:05] I bet you a lot of people might be very intrigued with this notion.

[00:23:08] I'm intrigued with the notion of how long you write.

[00:23:13] How does that begin to emerge into a piece of clay?

[00:23:18] Well, yeah.

[00:23:19] So, oh, man, I wish I could give you.

[00:23:22] So, for example, let's see.

[00:23:24] I'm working on, I'm part of a academic book that's coming out sometime next year.

[00:23:29] And the premise of the book is about Black Florida and Black artists in Miami who's been making work from the 1960s to present.

[00:23:39] And so each artist that was part of this panel were asked to contribute a text to the book.

[00:23:48] And so it started off as a poem about Black Florida, what being Black in Miami has meant to me.

[00:23:55] And then from that experience, it evolved into a more academic text about my lived experience.

[00:24:02] And so from the text, for example, I write more in poems.

[00:24:06] So I'm able to take the key highlights of that poem to become the title of my work.

[00:24:11] So the evidence of the writing, you see it often in my text and the title of my pieces.

[00:24:20] So if you go on, so I'm going to hop on my website real quick.

[00:24:23] So if you go on the website, for example, I'm going to click under the series Caged Bird Seams.

[00:24:29] And so if you go under my titles, this is where you see the evidence of the writing.

[00:24:36] So this piece here, this first one is titled Black Maiden, the Caged Bird Seams, a little cue of midnight lullabies.

[00:24:44] And that is a line that is inspired by Maya Angelou's poem, the Caged Bird, why did the Caged Bird Seams?

[00:24:52] And then there's a little text about the reference from there.

[00:24:55] And then as you go down, there's other titles called like Three Black Pro, Black Boys Rest on the Ethos of Falling Dreams.

[00:25:03] And so these are all like moments in writing.

[00:25:05] And then these become the titles of my artwork.

[00:25:09] Boy, people would be lucky to hang out with you because you are so inspiring.

[00:25:14] Now, tell me, my head goes to maybe practicality too quickly.

[00:25:19] But I imagine that you've got these poems that you've written.

[00:25:24] And how do they actually get translated into your art studio?

[00:25:29] Are you printing them off or writing them and having them around you?

[00:25:35] Right, they're writing.

[00:25:35] So they're like, oh man, it's like chaos.

[00:25:40] Some of them are in my notes, in my phone.

[00:25:43] Others are written on a piece of paper or on a stamp.

[00:25:47] And that becomes just like the inspiration.

[00:25:50] So as they're coming to me, I'm writing them down.

[00:25:54] And whatever medium or material is in my disposal is what retains that information.

[00:26:00] So sometimes it's a phone, it's an iPad, it's a computer, it's a note.

[00:26:04] So it takes on different forms.

[00:26:06] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:26:06] Very good, very good.

[00:26:08] So can you tell us a little bit about your actual ceramic work?

[00:26:13] I know that you work a lot in porcelain, if I understand that.

[00:26:17] Maybe you can talk a little bit about that.

[00:26:19] I know you have in the past.

[00:26:21] So tell us a little bit about your work and how you think about your work with the actual clay in your hands.

[00:26:27] Yeah, so I use a lot of porcelain in my work.

[00:26:32] And it's both a practicality reason as well as just I like the look of the material.

[00:26:39] So for a very long time, I've been working with just pure white.

[00:26:42] I like the contrast.

[00:26:44] It gives them more of a Baroque kind of aesthetic when I'm documenting the actual work.

[00:26:51] And so as a viewer, you're focused strictly on the texture, the pattern, the lighting, and the design.

[00:26:58] So there's no other obstruction from the work.

[00:27:05] You're able to focus strictly on the technical aspect of the work.

[00:27:08] And so that's what I wanted to highlight in Awesome Time because this captures the real-time experience of the work or the reference that I'm trying to do.

[00:27:17] So, for example, I did a project for Facebook here in Miami.

[00:27:22] And that project is a direct conversation with the bleaching of the coral reefs that's happening in our oceans.

[00:27:30] And a lot of – if you're in that space, the fishes are similar to the fishes that are native to South Florida.

[00:27:39] And I spent a very long period of time to design the fish because I wanted to capture the essence of what that meant as part of the work.

[00:27:55] And so, yes, I spent a lot of time in the design of the work.

[00:27:59] I used slipcasting, moldmaking to capture different aspects of the work, and that informs the final look as I'm working.

[00:28:11] Another aspect of the work is I do use color as well, but color is very intentional.

[00:28:17] So, for example, I have an old body of work – this piece called The Brown Menagerie.

[00:28:24] And The Brown Menagerie consists of three figures that are – they're sitting down on a red base.

[00:28:33] And this piece is in reference to the color brown that was done.

[00:28:38] So, there was a study that was done on the color brown where they went to a playground with a box of crayon, and they gave it to 1,000 students.

[00:28:47] And after that study was done, out of all the colors in the box of crayon, brown was the only one that was never selected.

[00:28:55] And so, the study went on to talk about how we, as humans, associate the color brown with things like decay, something that is rotten,

[00:29:03] and how that affects the psychological makeup of society and brownness and colorism.

[00:29:09] So, this is a very complex study.

[00:29:11] And so, I just did a piece based on the reading and the research from that particular work.

[00:29:17] Right now, I've been working a lot with elements of the color blue.

[00:29:22] And some of the work that I'm making now – and so, blue – so, I've gone from white, porcelain, to a little bit of color.

[00:29:28] And now, I'm kind of exploring elements of blue.

[00:29:30] So, blue is an important color in African culture.

[00:29:33] It keeps off bad spirits.

[00:29:35] It's meant to safeguard you as well.

[00:29:39] And so, again, you know, it takes on different forms of the work.

[00:29:42] I do love porcelain as a medium because, for me, it just – you know, it's just the pureness of the clay.

[00:29:49] I like the aesthetics of it.

[00:29:51] The work comes off very baroque and very, like, ornate.

[00:29:56] So, yeah, yeah.

[00:29:58] And when you're using color, are you using stains, underglazes?

[00:30:05] It's a combination of all of them.

[00:30:07] So, sometimes the work is strictly a underglaze.

[00:30:11] I've experimented with, like, gold luster, with lusters, ceramic decals.

[00:30:18] So, it takes on – like I said, the material is determined by the messaging.

[00:30:23] And so, based on the messaging that I'm trying to communicate is a material to ultimately use from the actual work.

[00:30:29] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:30:31] That's wonderful.

[00:30:32] Well, like if you could speak to somebody who was younger and earlier on in their career, what kind of advice would you have for them about their progress, where they could go, what they should be doing?

[00:30:47] So, I tell my students whenever I go to a college to give a lecture is as a young artist, you should be exposing yourself to multiple kinds of medium.

[00:30:59] I think today, with the advancement of technology, even AI, there's a lot of careers and materials that are going to be taken over by AI.

[00:31:13] And so, as a young artist, if you're able to expose yourself to multiple kinds of medium, then it makes you a much more rounded artist.

[00:31:22] That makes it more competitive.

[00:31:24] And you're able to respond quicker to your environment.

[00:31:29] Because of that, you know, I'm able to take on different projects with brands, you know.

[00:31:33] And so, all of these, for me, have been helpful.

[00:31:37] And, you know, like there's nothing wrong with taking a class in relationship to your major.

[00:31:44] But I feel like, you know, you're much more stronger as an artist if you're exposed to more than one kind of material.

[00:31:51] So, you've now talked about working in various mediums across various ideas and working in series.

[00:32:01] One of the things that you do a lot of is teaching, it sounds like.

[00:32:06] And that's been a central component we've talked about and that's important to you.

[00:32:11] How could a person connect with a teacher?

[00:32:15] Maybe they're not in a formal school, but they're more out in the community working.

[00:32:21] What's the best way for them to connect with a teacher that would help them with their progress?

[00:32:27] So, I think it's not the job of the student to connect with the teacher.

[00:32:34] So, I would reverse the question around.

[00:32:36] Okay.

[00:32:37] So, I would say, you know, for example, in museum education, we have a structure that is very different from the classroom education.

[00:32:45] So, in museum education, we're more sort of a facilitator.

[00:32:50] And we are using the students are driving the conversation forward.

[00:32:57] And as a facilitator, you're using your arsenal of knowledge to enhance the conversation and to kind of guide it.

[00:33:04] And so, for example, when students come to the museum, you know, we go in front of the artwork.

[00:33:10] They're using this visual thinking strategy to analyze the work.

[00:33:14] So, this process is called inquiry learning.

[00:33:17] And so, we're able to go through description, analysis, interpretation, and there's a judgment at the very end.

[00:33:25] Versus in the classroom, you know, that model is very passive.

[00:33:28] Where students are kind of sitting at the desk.

[00:33:30] The teacher is lecturing them what they should know, what they should do.

[00:33:34] And so, I find that model to be very outdated, especially those students that are of immigrant descent.

[00:33:42] You know, because that's already a language barrier.

[00:33:44] And so, when students are given a different framework for learning, that impact and connection is drastically different.

[00:33:53] And that's what I try to do when I was an educator in the museum is through my programming.

[00:33:59] I would specifically target those kids that were deemed as difficult, as troublemaker.

[00:34:04] Because those were the kids that needed that program more.

[00:34:07] And I remember at the peak of my programming, the administration would use it as a reward for the students.

[00:34:16] They would only try to bring me the good kid, you know.

[00:34:18] And so, I would fight the administration, like, hey, this program is not a reward program.

[00:34:24] This program is an enrichment for all students.

[00:34:28] But more specifically, it needs to be those students that are having a hard time in the classroom to begin with.

[00:34:34] So, the good students are great in the program.

[00:34:37] They're doing well.

[00:34:38] But this program is more beneficial for the bad ones that are not connected in the classroom.

[00:34:43] Because there's a learning difference.

[00:34:46] And so, I would fight for the bad kids to come on the field trip to the museum.

[00:34:51] Yeah, for sure.

[00:34:52] Like, I've always thought that I was a psychologist for many years.

[00:34:55] And I have always felt that for kids who really struggled, one way to help them get out of trouble or to prevent the trouble was allowing them to find a way to express themselves in a way that's different than the traditional classroom.

[00:35:11] Yeah.

[00:35:12] And, you know, the impact was there.

[00:35:14] You know, I think, like, you know, I stepped down from teaching in the museum after the pandemic.

[00:35:19] But in my six years at the museum, I was able to measure a quantitative way of teaching.

[00:35:29] It does impact there.

[00:35:30] Like, the school went from a district rating of a D school.

[00:35:34] And within the three-year period, became an A school.

[00:35:36] But it was a combination of the principal was on top of it.

[00:35:41] The museum was there as a support system to give their resources.

[00:35:45] And then the teachers were being measured and kind of guided to work with these students.

[00:35:52] And so when you have this three-way enforcement between administration, teachers, and then a community support like a museum, the impact was there.

[00:36:03] The school had transformed within a matter of three years.

[00:36:07] Unfortunately, that principal also retired during COVID.

[00:36:10] And so I'm not sure what is the status of the school now because I'm not teaching at the museum anymore.

[00:36:15] But for that moment in time, the data was there.

[00:36:18] The proof was there.

[00:36:19] The impact was working.

[00:36:21] Yeah.

[00:36:22] It's often about the person as opposed to the program, isn't it?

[00:36:26] Yeah.

[00:36:26] Yeah.

[00:36:27] Yeah.

[00:36:27] Absolutely.

[00:36:28] So is there something that you would like to tell our audience about your future?

[00:36:35] Where are you going?

[00:36:37] What's intriguing you these days?

[00:36:39] Or as I say to many people, what's getting you out of bed in the morning?

[00:36:42] In the morning.

[00:36:43] So right now, you know, I'm still in this new kind of period in my life where, you know, like for the past 10 years, I've been working as an educator.

[00:36:55] So in the morning, you know, I would get up to be in a museum, to go to the classroom, to teach teacher workshops.

[00:37:03] But now, you know, I'm a full-time working artist.

[00:37:06] And so right now, I'm kind of like living my childhood dream by doing that.

[00:37:12] And so I have a lot of agency in terms of time.

[00:37:15] And so I'm learning how to use time management in a different kind of way.

[00:37:20] You know, I'm working on public art.

[00:37:23] You know, so this year, I have three major art projects that I'm working on, two of which I mentioned.

[00:37:29] And then the third one is for the city of Port Gables.

[00:37:32] So I will be designing my first bronze artwork in my entire life for the city.

[00:37:38] And this artwork is going to commemorate the Black and Bahamian residents that essentially built the city of Port Gables from the ground up.

[00:37:45] And so to be in that position as an artist is absolutely incredible.

[00:37:51] I'm humbled by the opportunity.

[00:37:53] I mean, it's also new for me.

[00:37:55] There's new medium.

[00:37:56] There's new material.

[00:37:57] And so I feel like I'm back in the classroom again.

[00:38:00] You know, I'm learning about bronze.

[00:38:02] Like, I did bronze back in college as a one-course semester.

[00:38:05] But now, how do I curate, you know, a 10-feet bronze artwork?

[00:38:09] So I feel like, you know, every day I'm on YouTube.

[00:38:13] I'm reading.

[00:38:14] I'm figuring out the best material, the best process.

[00:38:18] I'm learning, you know, like things about zoning and permits.

[00:38:24] And so I feel like I'm a student all over again.

[00:38:27] And this high moment, this low moment for every day is something new for me.

[00:38:34] Yeah, that's very exciting, isn't it?

[00:38:35] To be always learning.

[00:38:37] I mean, I think that's one thing I aspire to be always learning until I'm in the ground.

[00:38:44] So that's very cool.

[00:38:47] Moral, I wanted to thank you for coming on the show today.

[00:38:50] I really appreciated you being here today.

[00:38:53] And your words have meant a lot to me and I think will mean a lot to people in the community.

[00:38:59] So thank you so much.

[00:39:01] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:39:02] And I'll say, I guess the last thing would be, you know, if you have an opportunity to travel, you know, travel, go to museums, go to your local galleries.

[00:39:12] There's so many great art around you.

[00:39:15] You know, just take the time out of your day, out of the week to experience something new.

[00:39:22] Because ultimately, you know, life is very short.

[00:39:25] And so by seeing life through the lens of an artist is something really exhilarating.

[00:39:33] And you can learn something beautiful if you choose to use that time.

[00:39:39] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:39:40] And I think having a conversation with an artist is really important as well.

[00:39:46] These conversations have been a privilege for me to be able to chat to people like yourself and for others to listen.

[00:39:53] But that's really another element above just even looking and experiencing the work itself, isn't it?

[00:39:59] Yes.

[00:40:00] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:40:02] So thank you very much.

[00:40:03] Appreciate you being here.

[00:40:05] And I look forward to connecting in the future.

[00:40:08] Absolutely.

[00:40:09] For those that are interested in following my work, the best way is through Instagram, which is my first and last name, Morelle Doucette.

[00:40:17] And then if you want a more comprehensive, in-depth look into the work, then I encourage you to go to my website.

[00:40:23] That has a lot of information on there.

[00:40:25] Absolutely.

[00:40:26] And we'll have all that information up in our information with links to your website and Instagram as well so people can connect with you.

[00:40:34] Thank you.

[00:40:36] Thank you, Morelle.

[00:40:36] Thanks for listening to the Color and Ceramics Podcast with Bob Acton and his guests.

[00:40:42] Please help others find the podcast by subscribing to this podcast wherever you find your podcasts, such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or other podcatchers.

[00:40:53] And don't forget to give us a review.

[00:40:56] We'll see you next time.

[00:40:57] Thank you.

[00:40:57] Thank you.