Elementary art teacher takes notes from students

Eric Staib, 50, is an art teacher at Okemos Public Schools, where he works with elementary students to view the world more creatively. He said the biggest challenge his students encounter is using their imagination to see past what their subject “should” look like.

“For some of my students, when they see a cardboard box, they just see a cardboard box,” Staib said. “I try to push the surrealism.”

While Staib guides his students to think unconventionally, a lot of their work inspired pieces in his latest series, “R3claim” at the MICA gallery. While borrowing from children’s doodles has been practiced by greats such as Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky, he said it’s difficult for adults to mimic the “purity” of a child’s scribbles.

“Even the color combinations are just crazy cool,” Staib said. “They can’t even answer why they did it. It’s just how they feel about the colors at the time.”

“R3claim” was built on either repurposed canvas he found while dumpster diving behind Kresge Art Center, cardboard boxes or even the back of a 99-cent painting from a thrift store.

Influenced by the work of Jasper Johns, many of Staib’s paintings include a series of numbers detailing the color, texture or methods in the order of when they were used.

Because the artist works strictly with rejected materials, his studio is mobile. Staib plays drums for the Luke Cyrus Band, a rising rock ‘n’ roll infused outfit. While on tour in 2016, Staib finished a series of cardboard paintings. He still gets a kick from the time when the cleaning attendants in the hotel left notes in his room complimenting his work.

“I truly think I have my niche and it all ties in with my dyslexia,” Staib said.

This practice of flipping discarded objects is hardly a trick, but rather a refined skill he’s mastered over the years as a dyslexic man navigating the education system — something he discusses openly in his artist statement.

At the exhibit’s reception Friday, a family from Coldwater drove an hour just to talk to Staib about their dyslexic son. Staib said we talked with the family for about 45 minutes about his childhood struggles and study tips he’s learned along the way.

“One of the big things I talked to their son about was when I was growing up, I dealt with very low self-esteem because I always felt like a failure at everything,” Staib said.

Staib attended the MSU School of Music on a scholarship and found a support system in the school marching band. He said the biggest lesson he learned while at college was learning “how to advocate” for himself.

What’s next for Staib? According to him, a lot more traveling with his band and daughter — who is looking at prospective out of state colleges. He said he’s also talking with Michigan State University and Saginaw Valley State University about doing solo exhibits.

“I want to conquer Michigan first."

Eric Staib: R3claim

On display until, Monday, July 29

Tuesday – Sunday

MICA Gallery

1210 Turner St. Lansing

(517) 371-4600

For gallery hours, visit micagallery.org