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McConnell AFB Arts and Crafts Director Walt Engle has earned the right to do things his own way. After all, he’s been employed there since 1975 and he’s got a degree in fine arts. So when he teaches his weekly oil painting workshop, it’s okay that he takes a non-traditional approach. “It’s not like the 5-week class you’d take at a downtown recreation program where everyone paints the same thing,” explains Engle. “The first thing I do when a student comes to my class is I find out what they like. I have them look through Art in America magazine and show me pictures they wish they had painted. Invariably I can see a pattern of what they like and what they’d like to paint. Then I help them, one-on-one, to get to that end.” This personalized technique and openness to artistic expression is the foundation of the center’s success, and it doesn’t begin and end with Walt Engle. “We have a great staff and a very low turnover rate,” Engle says with pride. “The key is to attract and keep good people who are passionate about what they do and believe in sharing their skills.” So while McConnell is the smallest AMC base with only about two thousand active duty personnel, the Arts and Crafts Center there has the command’s highest per-capita usage, at between three and four thousand customer visits per month. Ingle and his staff of 10 operate an automotive shop, woodworking shop, engraving shop, picture framing shop, arts studio, retail store and a coin-operated car wash. Their overlapping schedules keep facilities open 10 hours a day, six days a week. “We’re here to serve our customers,” confirms Engle. “And with military members subject to TDYs and deployments and 12-hour shifts and other time constraints, we discovered it’s difficult for people to commit to a specific class schedule. So we decided to provide one-on-one classes by appointment at their convenience. So if a person is working weird shifts or has to leave every two weeks for two weeks, it doesn’t hurt them in their learning curve.” Throughout the year, the center offers a core group of seven recurring classes, several one-time classes and workshops, plus special demonstrations by guest instructors. But don’t expect only oil painting, acrylics, basket weaving, ceramics and woodworking classes. The center has presented flint knapping classes, a popular genealogy class, and hosted a group who rebuilt a full-size antique airplane and others who have built canoes. “When you put it all together, it’s people with creative inclinations following their passions,” says Engle. “Everyone has a need for personal expression, whether they know it or not. And we’re just here to encourage them. Our motto is: Nobody fails, we’re not gonna let you.” As for Engle, he sees no need to leave McConnell any time soon. “You do this because you love it. It’s not just a job, not just a salary. I believe that if you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” |
