Kovacs retires from ISU

Idaho State University's Rudy Kovacs, a professor in the school's art and pre-architecture department who specializes in weaving, retired this month. The Bengal caught up with him for some parting words about his life, passions and future plans.

Bengal Newspaper: What was your first experience with art?

Kovacs: I think my first experiences with art, as far as my childhood, had to do with building things, going out into the woods and gathering stuff, putting structures together, making stuff out of mud, corn, hay, sticks and stuff like that. My grandmother was very influential, in terms of art. My grandfather was a woodworker. He built different types of furniture and designed it. That always interested me.

BN: What did you do before coming to Idaho State University?

Kovacs: When I finished my terminal degree from the University of Kansas, I taught three years at the Wichita Art Association. From there, I took a position at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. I taught concentration there for two years.

BN: Did you always plan on becoming a professor?

Kovacs: No, I hadn't. At first, when I was going to school, I thought I would become a high school teacher and go into the College of Education; but then I decided against that after I had taken a couple of core courses in the College of Education. I decided I wanted to pursue my own work. I got a terminal degree in textiles, which was an area I was interested in. I [already] had an undergraduate degree working in clay, and I also took a lot of weaving at that time, too.

BN: How have your interests in art changed over the years?

Kovacs: Well, I think as far as "a man's best friend is his dog," as an artist, you learn to listen to the materials with which you are working with, so you actually have a dialog with them, but they can't talk back to you, sort of like a dog. Even so, you can understand as far as what's going on, and it's really about being sensitive and aware as to what the materials can do or cannot do. That learning skill, as far as the human touch and also the idea of listening to the materials, is very important, at least to me as an artist.

BN: Are there any experiences or people that stand out to you as you think back over your career?

Kovacs: Yes, when I went on my sabbatical to study at [Fondazione Arte della Seta] Lisio, which is outside of Florence, Italy, I met Giuseppe Lisio's daughter. Giuseppe Lisio started the Lisio company, which was against the whole Industrial Revolution, and was more of a hands-on type of guy. He wanted to keep that hand craft going. When I met his daughter Fidalma Lisio, she was 87 at the time, and for some reason, she really liked me. I liked her, so we had a nice relationship. She was an incredible person [and] spoke seven languages. That [relationship] was very rewarding.

Bill Brown, who was the director at the Penland School of Crafts, was very influential to me as an artist. His wife, Jane Brown, is very well known for the Alexander technique, teaching dance and centering the body and listening to the body. It's like listening to the materials you're working with; you can't fool the materials, and you can't fool your body either.

Certainly, I've had some really great students over my time, and I mean, you learn much from them, too, as much as you try to share with them.

BN: Are there any other thoughts you'd like to share with readers?

Kovacs: My time at Idaho State University has been great. I've had really great colleagues. This university has an incredible record, in terms of collaboration among faculty members and students from all colleges. It's one of the few universities, and probably states, in many ways [where] you can go any place in the state or university and you'll know somebody. When my brother and sisters were here [to visit], they were always amazed that no matter where I took them, I'd see people that I knew. It's kind of wild that in the state of Idaho, people really come together, and it's just a really nice feeling. Idaho is special in that sense.

BN: What are your plans for retirement?

Kovacs: I'm going to start [by] dealing with the present and see where that takes me. It's all fresh and new, so I'm not thinking of the past; I'm not thinking of the future. I'm just thinking of the present. It'll unravel as it goes.