Faculty Emeriti Profile: Susan Felz

9/16/2022

If you were at Ransom Everglades between 1979 and 1999, you would have found Susan Felz in her ceramics studio under the pool. Though she moved to the new Visual Arts Building after that, she and many of her former students have many fond memories. We had the distinct pleasure to chat with Mrs. Felz recently.

Truly ahead of her time, Mrs. Felz was one of the first-ever recipients to be awarded a commission from Miami-Dade County’s Art in Public Places. She created two textured clay walls by hand, which, 35 years later, still hang in the South Miami Library.

Growing up in Chicago, Mrs. Felz’s mother and father took her family on many journeys around the country, and she began to observe people, places and objects. This observation carried into her artwork, which she started at an early age by drawing everything around her.

Felz took her first class in ceramics at the Art Institute in Chicago, where she loved working with the medium immediately. Going into teaching in the fine arts area was a natural progression for her; she was determined to help others develop a love for ceramics. And so began her years of teaching in that area.

RE: How did you come to work at RE?

SF: My husband and I moved to Miami after living in California, Oregon and Arizona, where he was getting his PhD. I was studying for my MFA at the University of Miami and met (former faculty member) Dan Millspaugh. Dan suggested I come in for an interview at Ransom Everglades, and I was hired to teach fine arts and history. I started out taking over a teacher’s art history classes, which was a great experience because I had to backtrack and learn about art history again.

RE: What was your favorite part about working with students?

SF: Making them get excited about working in clay. I would have different groups of students, some who took a little while to get interested, but then did because they were taking something and trying to present it from nothing. I also enjoyed holding classes for parents. We had some teacher/parent events, and I’d set up a class for them. They really loved it.

RE: You had quite a few interesting experiences in your ceramic studio.

SF: Yes. Once a raccoon had babies in my room. When the students and I came in, we were laughing because the mama raccoon walked right in to get her babies.

RE: What have you been up to in retirement?

SF: Every now and then I'll do some drawing. I enjoy keeping track of the changing political landscapes. There is so much news that changes every day that you have to keep track. I’m especially concerned about civil, human and voting rights. I keep up with art news and art shows around the city. That presents many new ideas for me to pursue.

After 28 years, Mrs. Felz retired in 2007. She now spends her time checking on her children and numerous relatives around the U.S. She enjoys receiving the RE Log magazine which always reminds her about students she remembers. “I loved my time at Ransom Everglades and all my co-workers; there were so many amazing people who worked there.”

A snippet from an interview with Dan Leslie Bowden, RE Log, Winter 2002

DLB: Susie, you know that you are widely beloved and respected as a teacher in this school. That’s history. Oh, I can’t begin to tell you how many students really adore you, but then there are many of us on the faculty who have that same regard for you. I just thought it was important to begin with that attitude expressed.

DLB: What is your favorite kind of ceramic creation? I mean what do you like best to do?

SF: I love to explore the idea of sculpture. Whether it is figurative or geometric, I love making boxes that have pinned areas or things attached to them. I think those are my favorites, but even little pinch pots are wonderful little things to make. And I adore doing those. I think if a person loves working with clay, they have a need to continue exploring different forms and shapes.

DLB: Is there a single moment or situation at Ransom Everglades that you would consider your best moment?

SF: That’s a hard question because they must feel free to explore an idea and make something. I look at things objectively. If they make something, it does not mean it is worthy of a gallery; however, it’s worthy in their eyes of something very important and they succeeded in doing something that they love. When that happens with a student, I think that is important.

DLB: And by the way, when we have had people come to evaluate the school, many of them were impressed by that philosophy. Of course, we do know that many, many, many of your students stun us yearly with what they do produce, which in and of itself is more than a work of art. They are beautiful things, creative things, and I certainly have time and again stood in awe.

DLB: What do you like most in your work at Ransom Everglades School?

SF: It is seeing new faces every year and trying to help each student in my class explore their best potential. Everybody, I think, has a feeling of creativity. Some come into class saying I am not creative, I am not going to be any good, and they start out negatively instead of positively. We just keep working. I truly believe the more work you do, the better you’ll get, and the more you will be able to explore an idea from one segment to another.

SF: I try creating something either in my mind or go on to other things. The moment for me is the making and creating of something.

SF: I would like to say one thing. I wish everybody would be able to read a book I shared with you.

DLB: Centering.

SF: Yes, Centering, by M.C. Richards.

DLB: Oh, I love that book.

SF: Because it is by a poet, a philosopher and a pottery person. She has this marvelous philosophy about life that she transfers to her art. Everybody should have a chance to read it.

DLB: At the risk of repetition, I will simply say again, artists are notorious, famous for having super-duper egos, whether they are ceramists, musicians or whatever. You are uniquely without ego. You inspire respect and love, both of which I have for you in abundance.

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RE founder Paul Ransom, circa 1903

Faculty Emeriti Profile: Susan Felz

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