DAYTON, Ohio — You may have seen Kelly and Kyle Phelps’ work in museums across the country- the identical twins live in Dayton and are making sure more people are seeing their work.
What You Need To Know
- Kyle and Kelly Phelps are identical twins and are both sculptors
- Kelly Phelps teaches at Xavier, and Kyle teaches at the University of Dayton
- The twins are inspired by the American working class and the shut-down of factories across the country
- Kyle and Kelly Phelps’s artwork is displayed across the country and will soon be at an exhibit in March at Xavier
In a small studio in their basement, you’ll find identical twins Kyle and Kelly Phelps carving out their next project.
“In between academia and teaching and then coming home, grabbing a bite to eat, and then hit the studio,” Kelly Phelps said of their hectic schedule.
The twins are both professors in ceramics and sculpting- Kelly Phelps at Xavier and Kyle Phelps at the University of Dayton. They spend all their free time working on their art.
Kelly (left) and Kyle work on sculptures in their basement studio (Spectrum News/ Katie Kapusta)
“We’re primarily hand builders so everything is kind of constructed with our hands and then we end up with the, eventually we’ll get down to the fine dental type of tools and probes and things like that,” Kelly Phelps said.
But these pieces have a lot of meaning for these brothers.
“We get online and we see factory plants shut down,” Kelly Phelps said. “That’s what keeps us motivated.”
The brothers grew up in New Castle, Indiana- a town once known for its factories- ones their entire family worked in, including themselves, before they shut down.
“This is our life, this is how we grew up and hearing stories,” Kyle Phelps said. “Coming from the factory with our mom and dad and then pretty soon it wasn’t just from them, it was our own personal experience working in the factories and seeing what was going on. That really gave us a lot of inspiration.”
One of Kyle and Kelly’s final pieces (Spectrum News/ Katie Kapusta)
So now, each sculpture is with that in mind- trying to keep the American working class history alive.
“We try to have remnants from the plant that no longer exist,” Kelly Phelps said. “And that’s the sad part about these factories is that they’re getting scraped off the face of the earth like they never existed, which is sad. It’s not just African American history, it’s American history that just disappears.”
And while the two love what they do, they know it’s bigger than themselves.
“It’s all those moms and dads and sons and brothers and aunts and uncles and neighbors that worked in these plants,” said Kyle Phelps.
The Phelps brothers have their art all around the country and the state- including the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, and have an upcoming exhibit coming to Xavier in March.
