Louis Ely has been teaching art in the Madison Metropolitan School District for around 27 years now, and come this Saturday, Oct. 14, he will be sharing his own personal work by having a premier event at Java Cat Coffee House on Madison’s East Side to meet and speak with attendees.
Ely did not start his time in Madison in art education, however. Once a basketball player for UW-Madison pursuing a degree in art, Ely returned to Madison after some time playing in Europe and that is when he found himself in MMSD schools and eventually, at a middle school. Acknowledging art as a form of therapy up to the point where he will play instrumentals in genres like jazz to inspire creativity and relaxation, Ely still focuses on the serious side of giving your best effort in your art.
“I’m serious about art, and when you come into my classroom, you can hear a pin drop, because everybody is engaged in working on their art. I try to inspire them with the artwork that I do and show it to them. I get the oohs and ahhs from them, so that makes me feel confident. Every project we do, I always do multiple examples for them using my art style. I have a website now, and the cool thing about the website is that it motivates kids to do their best work so I can put them on the art website, then their parents can see them on the website.”
Ely had not always expected the attention and demand for his work that he is now currently receiving, but the seemingly small act of submitting proposals for an electrical box display commissioned by the city of Madison resulted in a new perspective. While Ely also offers other services such as commissions for pet portraits, paint and sip events, and lessons, the upcoming Java Cat event proved a new challenge as now Ely is on the grind to provide beautiful works for show.
“I come home, and there’s days I come home and work and I’m going to bed at two or three in the morning. Trying to get stuff done. One of my pieces I’m working on, actually is a Muhammad Ali artwork,” said Ely, who also reflected on being a role model as an atypical figure in teaching art as a Black man.
“I had a student one day at school who sold me some cookies, and what came with it was a little bracelet. On that bracelet, it says ‘Hard work beats talent every time.’ I wear that anytime I get a chance. I’m a believer that I don’t have a talent, I have a skill set, and I put hard work into that skill set and develop it to a high level.”
For Ely, hard work means nothing without community and passing it forward. He hopes that proceeds from artwork can go to different causes, such as the Ali painting for Parkinson’s, a portrait of tropical settings to the Maui relief efforts, and pet portraits towards the Humane Society. Ely will also be joined by two other artists on Oct. 14, valuing the chance he has to simply share opportunity and create happiness through art.
“Art is subjective, and I think it’s a lot of talented artists out there that don’t get the chance to be seen or have the opportunity to display their work. I’m 52 years old, this is the first time I ever had the chance. I never really sought it out, because I was teaching, but I just thought about making my art, I just want people to be happy. I paint something for somebody and put a smile on their face and make them happy about what I did for them.”
To check out more about Louis Ely check out his website here.
