Carl Sheehan — Enjoying an artist's lifestyle by Marjorie Smith Potter Carl Sheehan, '77 Art, is one of many MSU students who came to Bozeman and fell in love with the area. He has managed to stay and make his living as an artist--with a little flexibility. Sheehan is spending his 24th summer "on display" as resident artist at the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park. And yes, he says, "My work has definitely been influenced by the location where I do it." Sheehan says he has been intrigued by the western landscape since he first came to Montana in 1975, following the woman who eventually became his wife, Becky (who graduated in 2000 in graphic design). When he told his ceramics teacher at the junior college he attended in Michigan that he was heading for Bozeman, he first heard about MSU's famous ceramics professor, Frances Senska. "She'd already retired by the time I got here," Sheehan says, "but even so, she's been a great mentor to me." Senska gave him some life-defining advice when she told him that choosing to be a studio artist would not make him rich, but "it will afford you a certain lifestyle." Although he did teach junior high art for a couple of years and still teaches occasional classes at Bozeman's Beall Park Art Center, for the most part he earns his living as a studio artist. Each summer Sheehan heads for Yellowstone Park with a truck and trailer loaded with supplies and equipment. "When I was first invited to spend a summer in the park, I designed and built a kiln there. They give me room and board and sell everything I can make." Sheehan thrives on working in front of potential customers and says, no, he doesn't really feel like another park wildlife exhibit. "I like the banter," he says. "I especially like watching the kids--their eyes just light up when they see a lump of clay transformed to a pot under my hands." He delights in handing out bits of clay to the kids, earning frowns from parents worried about keeping the interior of the car clean. In his years at Old Faithful, Sheehan has met and chatted with some famous people including Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and radio host/humorist Garrison Keillor. But his favorite celebrities are still the geysers. "I never get tired of watching them. In the evening I ride my bike on some of the paths and watch for the less well known geysers to erupt." Sheehan credits one other member of the MSU faculty for his successful career. "Rick Pope has been a great mentor and buddy since I graduated," he says. "He's more than a former professor--he's a friend."