Over the past 40 years, artist Milt Friedly has taught thousands of students and created a wide range of artwork spanning many forms 鈥� bronze sculpture, clay vessels, paintings, abstract clay landscapes, mixed media work and more.
His ever-changing repertoire of ideas traces back to his early days as an artist. Friedly studied art at 蓝莓视频 in the late 1970s, where he found 鈥渢he freedom to explore different ideas and different media.鈥�
鈥淚t did have a big impact upon my career, being at Northwest, because I really got turned on to art,鈥� Friedly said. 鈥淚 know it was very instrumental in my career.鈥�
As he poured over books in the college library, Friedly鈥檚 perspective on art expanded. He was inspired by artwork from Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and others. 鈥淲e were looking at these artists 鈥� we didn鈥檛 know what we were looking at,鈥� Friedly said. 鈥淏ecause growing up in Cody or Powell, you see all the Western genre art 鈥� but that wasn鈥檛 my cup of tea.鈥�
Inspired by modern artwork he saw in books, Friedly didn鈥檛 realize at the time that one day, he would teach classes exploring those very artists鈥� work. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 thinking that I would ever be an academic,鈥� Friedly said. 鈥淚 knew I was going to be an artist 鈥� so I guess it was a big experiment really.鈥�
At NWC, Friedly started out taking painting classes, but a ceramics course helped shape his interest in pottery. 鈥淚 had never worked with clay, and I thought, 鈥楾his is cool; it鈥檚 a new challenge,鈥欌�� Friedly said. Friedly was eventually firing the gas kilns, getting hands-on experience as a young artist. Through his work-study position, Friedly spent a lot of time in the NWC Art Department at the Cabre Gym. 鈥淚 had the keys, so I was popular. We could go in anytime after hours,鈥� Friedly remembered.
The extra hours in the Art Department and time spent with his supervisor Ken Fulton and other art instructors sparked an interest in teaching. 鈥淚 was always helping other students, because I was there,鈥� Friedly said. 鈥淚 always enjoyed helping people.鈥�
After graduating from NWC in 1980, Friedly earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Arizona State University and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wyoming. He started teaching at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania in the spring of 1987. Over the decades, he taught a variety of courses in sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, painting and art history. Friedly became the Director for the Fine Arts Division in 2012.
With Elizabethtown鈥檚 proximity to major cities, Friedly said he鈥檚 been fortunate to lead students on trips to museums in Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Rather than looking at art only in books, the excursions give students the opportunity to experience originals by renowned artists like Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse and Jackson Pollock. Visiting The Museum of Modern Art in NYC, Friedly tells students to expect a large crowd around Vincent van Gogh鈥檚 famous Starry Night painting, 鈥渂ut I always tell the students, get in there and get close. Get a good look.鈥�
Friedly teaches the technical skills for art while encouraging students to pursue their own ideas.
鈥淵ou need to be inspired by something,鈥� he said, which often comes from what you鈥檙e seeing. 鈥�...In my teaching, I鈥檝e always given or shown examples of a lot of different approaches.鈥� Friedly said art is about ideas. He encourages students to draw from their own experience and choose the best media to express their concept.
In his own work, Friedly continues to employ a variety of different forms, but his favorite is one he first explored at NWC. 鈥淚 love material, I love making work 鈥� but for whatever reason, I keep coming back to clay,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 throwing pots or working with clay, there鈥檚 a calmness.鈥� He likens it to therapy. 鈥淚 tell the students, it鈥檚 clay therapy, where all the worries or whatever, you can kind of set those aside for a while,鈥� Friedly said. 鈥�... It鈥檚 probably because it鈥檚 earth. The same minerals that are in that clay are in my body, and we have that connection to the earth. It鈥檚 who we are. It鈥檚 what we know.鈥�
Friedly retired from full-time teaching last year but continues to teach as an adjunct faculty member.
This feature originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of TrapperConnect. If you'd like to receive future copies of this biannual publication in your mailbox, click here.