Circle in the schools program

Artist's Statement- Douglas French.

You may be wondering what I'm doing here, in this school teaching kids how to build sets and props for their play. Shouldn't I be working on my own projects, carving woodcuts or building sculpture for our regions budding Art Market? My reasons for teaching go back a long time. In the summer between my sixth and seventh grade years two teachers from my school started a theater program for kids who had nothing to do in summertime in Aurora, Ohio. Dan Dyer and Bill McKitrick produced a play called "Love Rides the Rails" on the stage at the High School gym. There were maybe twenty of us kids involved show and we learned the on stage and back stage aspects of theater that's when I first got my hands on wood and canvas, paint and paper, fabric and the idea of making things that represent other things. My role as "Truman" in "Love Rides the Rails" didn't lead me to a life on stage, but designing and building stuff for the theater started me off on my path as an artist. I'm here to give these kids the chance I got way back when, and to say thanks to my teachers Dan Dyer and Bill McKitrick who changed my life for the better.
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