Residency Spotlight

Myung Jin Choi at Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD in partnership with the Forbush School of Sheppard Pratt.

In the summer of 2007, artist Myung Jin Choi of the Clay Studios in Philadelphia, spent 10 weeks working with community members at the Forbush School of the Mann Residential Treatment Center of Sheppard Pratt Health Care Systems in Towson, MD. Ms. Choi spent 3 days each week with the community members on the creation and installation of a collaborative sculpture entitled “Safe Spaces” on the Sheppard Pratt campus.



The theme of the residency, “Safe Spaces,” emerged from Myung’s childhood memories of needing to find safe space to retreat from the world. This theme had special resonance for the project in that the community members Myung would be working with all live with severe mental illness and/or emotional trauma. Each week, Myung introduced a new project or concept coupled with a new hand building technique as they worked with the clay.  Examples include: “my friends,” where community members creates portraits of their friends in clay, and “letters,” where students created slabs on which they wrote a letter or message to a loved one, friend, or themselves.  They then chose whether to leave the letter open for others to read, or roll it up to keep the message a secret. The pieces were all fired at Clayworks for inclusion in the final sculpture.

One of the goals of the project was for community members to create a project larger than each one’s individual pieces. In doing this, they would take collective ownership of the process and outcome, giving them the opportunity to leave their fingerprints on a work of art that would become a permanent fixture at the hospital.  While this concept was challenging to communicate, participants became more excited as the project progressed.  A highlight of the installation process was the community members proudly showing their work to family and friends.  The dedication of the “Safe Spaces” sculpture took place in September 2007.

In addition to her work at Sheppard Pratt, Myung became a vital member of the Clayworks community during her residency in Baltimore.  She held an open studio and gave a slide lecture where she was able to share the history of her own art-making and the evolution of her own process.

In her final report, Myung says “I am very proud about the students at the Sheppard Pratt Hospital.  Most students participated in the project and most works are very personal.  While we were working with the hands and the hearts in clay, we laughed and opened ourselves.  As an artist and teacher, I did have an amazing experience during the project residency.”