Richard Paige — While the College celebrates the teaching and artistic accomplishments of Doug Calisch this weekend with the opening of 35 Retro in the Eric Dean Gallery, I was interested in the role than a mentor plays in the development of an artist.
So I reached out to Joe Trumpey ’88 via e-mail and asked him this: how important or meaningful is a mentor to a developing artist?
His reply was better than I could have hoped, and captures so many of the qualities that make Doug worth celebrating.
“Doug Calisch was just the mentor I needed to launch my creative life. He is a calm, patient, and caring man. It was that demeanor that swayed me into a dual major. As a freshman I was a biology major thinking about an art minor. Getting to know Doug in 3-D design as a freshman, I realized that “making stuff” was an important part of who I am. I saw that creative quality in Doug and his work. He gently encouraged me to complete a dual major. He was not high pressure. Just an idea. Just there. Listening to me. Paying attention to me. Talking with me. Caring for me. Holding me accountable. Challenging me. How could I refuse? I valued those qualities then and still today. I learned a lot about being an educator from Doug and still strive to be the calm, attentive mentor that he was to me and countless others.”
Now an associate professor of art at the University of Michigan, Trumpey also relayed a story that brought things full circle for him.
“I was the student representative on Doug’s tenure review committee. Once he successfully achieved the tenure he deserved, he went on sabbatical and began building the home he designed. I spent a good part of that summer working in a bio lab on a research project during the day and spent nights and weekends helping Doug and Laura build their home. Twenty-three years later, after I achieved tenure at the University of Michigan, I began building my own home. Doug and Laura’s son, Sam, contacted me interested in green building. Sam came to Michigan and lived with us for more than a month working hard in building our home. It was a fulfilling and beautiful thing.”
Indeed.
