College of Liberal Arts
Ceramics MFA student Amy Edler believes teaching is about more than developing technical skills. By helping students discover new ways to express themselves through art, she encourages creativity, confidence and curiosity in the classroom. In the Q&A below, Edler reflects on teaching, finding community in ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ and the experiences that have shaped her artistic journey.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm Amy Edler, and I'm an MFA student in ceramics. I've been teaching ceramics here at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. My specialty has kind of been atmospheric firing—wood firing and things like that—and that's what I like to bring into my classroom.
Can you tell us a little more about atmospheric firing?
When you fire clay, it converts from clay into ceramic, and so that's kind of why, whenever there are digs or they find sites where humans have lived, they often find ceramic shards.
In the older ways of firing, we fired with wood or different materials that were accessible, whereas now we typically fire with gas or electricity. So, with atmospheric firing, you're using wood and soda and salt. You're introducing that into the kiln, and then it creates an atmosphere in the kiln that creates unique effects on the ceramic surfaces.
It's a really special and labor-intensive way of making ceramic work.
Atmospheric firing is intimidating at first, but it's a skill you can develop, and it's one of my favorites. All roads lead to an atmospheric kiln for me. Instead of glazing, I like to get the surface effects from the firing itself and what you introduce into the kiln.
In your own words, why study the liberal arts?
That could end up being a long answer, but why I think the liberal arts matter, especially fine arts and ceramics... I've gone back and forth personally between working in psychology. I have a BA in psychology from the University of Iowa, and I've worked in psychology. At one point in my life, I was thinking about getting my Ph.D. in clinical psychology. But when I got to that stage in my life, I thought, if I'm going to work really, really hard at something, I want it to be what I want to do, and art has always been what I wanted to do.
But again, approaching it from that really rational standpoint, I definitely got the message from parents and everyone that you've got to have the "responsible job," and being an artist is not that. We have this perception, but I think that's inaccurate. I think there are a lot of people who make careers in art. It just doesn't look one way. It looks a million different ways.
We're creative people, and every job interview I've ever had, they're like, "What do you think you bring to this job?" And I'm like, "Well, creative problem-solving. I can look at something from a lot of different angles." If you can apply that same creative approach to your life and your career, some people make a living selling their art, some people make a living doing something else so they can make art. You can work at an institution. You can work in many different capacities. I think it's really valuable to pursue that if that's your interest, and then figure out what that looks like for you and how your interests combine in a way that makes it a viable career.
We need the arts. We need creative people, right? We need self-expression.
The thing I love about teaching—because teaching, especially in beginning and intermediate classes, is a lot of skills-based, technical knowledge—is you're empowering people to achieve goals they have. People come to these classes with this pull or this desire to make something or express something from inside of them that they feel the need to externalize. I'm helping people figure out the skills, the materials or the mechanisms they need in order to express that fully.
I think it's a really essential and valuable part of our society. That voice is still in the back of my head, like, "What are you doing?" because it was planted so young. I'm constantly proving that voice I've internalized wrong, being like, "Nope, I can do this, and I am doing this." So for me, personally, that's kind of where my approach is to why it's valuable.
How has your time at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ changed you, either academically, personally, or professionally?
That's another big question. I don't think I'll even understand how this experience has shaped me until I'm living my life. I think I'll always be evolving and relating back to this.
I think the difference in the way people live their lives here is the thing that shaped me the most. I came from bigger cities. I've lived in Milwaukee. I was in Durham, North Carolina, for a long time, living in a big, busy place where you have access to everything all the time.
That was the hardest part to adjust to, but once I did, I think it really helped me slow down and reassess what was important. I think those are the biggest pieces that are going to shape how I approach living everywhere else. I'll never forget the experience of living here and how it shaped and shifted my values.
I probably won't even fully know until I'm not living in a dry cabin and using an outhouse.
That alone is huge. I would tell my little nephews about that experience, and they were like, "How does an outhouse work?" So I drew them funny pictures of how it works. I won't go into detail, but just those little things.
I have many friends who are like, "I could never live without running water. I could never live without an indoor toilet." And I'm like, "Well, you absolutely can. That's the thing. You just don't know it until you're doing it."
What advice would you give to future ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ students?
The advice I would give future ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ students is... I think no matter what you're doing, no matter what area you're in, learning to be your own advocate is the best skill you can develop. That takes experience, right? But you're going to need to advocate for yourself, not just here, but in your life in the future. That's number one.
Number two is don't be afraid to challenge your instructors. I ask my students every semester, "How many of you feel like you can challenge the ideas your instructor is proposing in the classroom?" Nobody raises their hand.
I had an art history professor who asked us that same question, and I was like, "No. No way." And he was like, "No." He was so passionate about academia and education, and he said, "This is where you come to let ideas grow and for ideas to evolve. If we're not challenging each other's ideas, then we're not growing."
I've been in positions here where I used to say to my students, "If anyone tells you there's one way to do something, and that any other way you do it is wrong, run like hell in the opposite direction," because I've had that experience.
As a teacher, you have to say, "This is how you do something." But then I'm constantly saying, "Well, I know I said to do it that way, or not do it this way, but look at this piece over here. It's weird, and it has the thing that I said you shouldn't do, but it's awesome, and I love it."
Constantly challenging our own perceptions, as well as those being given to us, is super important. I think it's super important to think for yourself, right?
And to stand up for yourself. Trust your gut.
Congratulations to Amy Edler on being named one of the Department of Art's 2026 Outstanding Students of the Year. Learn more about the Department of Art and explore more Outstanding Student spotlights from across the College of Liberal Arts.
