Marian Heintz

Do you have any family that you’d like to mention?

I have: 1 Husband, 2 sons, 6 cats and 2 dogs, currently NO ferrets, sugar gliders, turtles, rats, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, or rabbits!

How did you get connected to the oak project?

Kelly took a pottery class from me and the rest is history!

What is your pet peeve?

People who think the rules don’t apply to them!

What five things are always in your fridge?

Unsweet decaf tea, cheese, jalapenos, expired sour cream, and wine.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?

I am not sure that I have met that person, but she would probably be a singer, song writer with a voice and passion like Jennifer Daniels. Oh, and she’d be able to dance!

What are you thankful for?

Hot showers, washing machines, kittens, and you, of course

What was one fad you took part of in your life?

Pet rocks and mood rings

What is something you can do that most people can't?

Weave wheat and tie a shoe lace with my toes (and it lasted all day!!)

What is something most people can do that you can’t do?

I can’t dance worth a flip, throw a Frisbee, or hula hoop to save my life!

What is something you would love to do for the very first time?

Solo hang glide

When have you laughed the loudest at the Oak?

For those of you who know Mr. Fred, you will follow this story well. And, for those of you who have not yet gotten to know Mr. Fred - I highly recommend it. When Mr. Fred and I first met, I quickly realized that I was the first “Marian” that he had ever known. My name has been difficult for him to remember. So, after knowing him for a while, I really needed him to call me something other than “lady”. I mean, you just don’t call your friend, “hey lady”. I figured a nickname would be okay. One evening Bobbie, Kelly and I talked Mr. Fred in to going to dinner with us. It came to mind that he could call me “Angel”. I mean really ... Mr. Fred is totally “Charlie” and the three of us girls are all “Angels”. Off we went to dinner. What a crew! We all laughed so hard at the restaurant just being together! But, when we all made redneck teeth out of limes I thought I would wet my pants!

What is your most memorable or impressionable experience with the Oak?

One of my most memorable experiences I have had at the Oak was trying to help Mr. Fred learn to swim. It meant more than I can say for him to trust me and to get in the pool and try to swim.

Why are you passionate about the Oak?

I believe in relationships and connections. I believe in authenticity. You find all that here. It is not always pretty, but it is real.

Do you have a story about “your journey to the Oak Project”?

My journey to the Oak Project has two different paths. One path began shortly after Kelly returned from a trip to Haiti in mid-2010. She brought back a special piece of rubble from a home that was destroyed in the earthquake. I took this piece of rubble and turned it into a sun catcher (a hanging decoration with a prism on the end). I gave it to Kelly as a gift. Kelly being Kelly, she wore the sun catcher around her neck. Long story short - that sun catcher turned necklace evolved into the idea of making jewelry out of rubble. And, not long after, I went to Haiti with the Oak Project and began teaching Haitian nannies how to make jewelry from rubble - hence the birth of “Rubble-Wear”.

The other path is intertwined with my personal journey. It began when Kelly asked me (in all seriousness), “what would your dream art studio look like?”. This was a difficult question for me to answer because many years ago along the path of life - I had stopped dreaming. After returning to college married and with two small children, life began unfolding very quickly.

A windy road of changing college majors and career directions, I finally landed as a high school art teacher. Eventually, I took the leap to full-time artist and potter. I am not sure exactly when but somewhere along this path I just stopped dreaming. At the end of that front porch conversation with Kelly, she asked me how much money it would take to build this “dream” studio. She actually wanted numbers and details the next day! I will be darned if that girl didn’t apply for a grant and get one to build an arts studio at the Oak Project!

Now, I am dreaming BIG. I believe that this studio/art center will become the center of the Oak Project’s mission. Building community.

Bio

Creative Arts Director

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