Sharif Bey

Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild graduate

Sharif Bey stepped out of his comfort zone when he stepped off the bus at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, and in doing so he learned how to be comfortable in his own skin.

“I remember the day I arrived in 1987, my freshman year of high school. I found an environment that wasn’t institutional, like school, but it wasn’t like hanging out at the mall either. It offered a different kind of structured environment. I was given 35 pounds of clay on that first day to sculpt with, and the idea of having unlimited resources was incredible to me. I’d been in ceramics classes at school for the past three years and probably hadn’t used 35 pounds of clay in that entire time.”

Opportunities for Sharif at MCG

Sharif recognized that the Guild offered the opportunity to explore creativity and engage in conversations with peers and instructors as an equal, without fear and without ego.

“It’s hard to achieve success when you never leave the neighborhood. Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild distinguished me from the footsteps of my eleven brothers and sisters. Until I came to the Guild, I was a reclusive minority kid and did not speak to white people outside of school. Now I was working side by side with an artist all day long, sharing his experiences. We’d pack up art, build a crate, and make things together. Art creates a commonality that breaks down the power structure found in conventional classrooms. I started to construct a social environment at the Guild, and suddenly I was caught up in a strategy that pushed me to become something.”

From MCG Student to Fulbright Scholar

Sharif received his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. As a Fulbright scholar, he is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Penn State, where he teaches Drawing and Contemporary Concepts in Creativity. He recalls his time at the Guild as a pivotal experience that helped define his confidence as an artist and a teacher.

“All student presentations were exhibited in the same fashion as the visiting artists, which really raised the standards. The artists’ work was beautifully framed, displayed on clean pedestals and promoted in the best light possible. So was our work. At the Guild, I discovered the sense of trust that comes from knowing someone has confidence in you.”

Continuing in the Tradition

After receiving his MFA, Sharif returned to the Guild in the summer of 2000 to teach and to continue the cycle of mentorship, a concept that remains large in his life.

“The idea of mentorship is not something that stopped after my experience at the Guild. There is something about passing the torch that has become so important. In teaching I reflect on the saying by John Piaget, ‘The more you see, the more you want to see.’”