John Mishler is in his element in a workshop with pieces of scrap metal cluttering the room. In his flannel button-down and battered blue jeans, Mishler sits in the sculpture workshop surrounded by half-finished sculptures created by his advanced sculpture class.
It's after 4 p.m. and classes have been dismissed on the Goshen College campus. The sidewalks are silent and most students are in their dorm rooms playing video games or studying in the library, but not Erin Brandeberry. The senior art major is seated on a worn-down couch in the sculpture workshop talking to Mishler and thinking of ideas for a sculpture project. Mishler and Brandeberry not only share project ideas but also share ways in which art can help them express themselves in light of their learning disabilities.
Throughout his education, Mishler knew he was different. Learning how to read and write was difficult. He repeated third grade and felt like he wasn't as smart as the rest of his classmates. He completed college and graduate school knowing that his strengths were expressing himself visually. But it wasn't until his wife, Phyllis, bought a book on dyslexia that Mishler found out that he had all the classic symptoms of the disorder, a disorder that was not completely understood until the 1980's.
Now, the 59-year-old Mishler does not see his disability as a hindrance to his work. "I see it as a gift to give me a different point of view," said the soft-spoken Mishler. "I find I express myself better visually than I do with writing."
Mishler shares this gift with his students in the Art Department, some of whom also have learning disabilities. These students "gravitate towards me because I understand partly what they're going through," he said. "We can understand each other without saying anything."
Brandeberry is one student who is attracted to art because she finds she is able to express herself best through art. Brandeberry also has been diagnosed with the learning disability ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).
"John's really supportive and understanding," Brandeberry said. "It's nice to have a professor that understands those sorts of things."
"We all talk about how much we love John," Brandeberry said.
While Mishler does not let learning disabilities get in the way of his students' creativity, he too has channeled his energy in a positive direction as a professional sculptor.
Mishler first began building structures when he played with small blocks of wood as a child. However, he did not pursue his interest in artistic creativity until college. Mishler went to Hesston College and became interested in sculpture when he took a sculpture class with a long-time art professor, Paul Friesen.
After Mishler graduated from the two-year school, he decided to continue studying art at Goshen College, but didn't declare art as a major until his senior year.
"I realized I was spending all my time in the Art Department," Mishler said. "I was hooked."
Mishler graduated from Goshen in 1972 with a degree in art and social work and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Tennessee.
As a professional sculptor, Mishler is commissioned to build most of his sculptors and is usually given a theme to build his structure around.
"I get a lot of my ideas when I'm driving around," he said. "I'm in my own world...my mind is going, going, going."
Once Mishler has an idea for a sculpture, he makes a sketch of it for his client, although this is his least favorite part about sculpting.
"I don't like to draw...I do my best drawing in my head," he said. "I see images. I see the final sculpture."
Mishler's sculptures can be found all across the country. He has around 40 sculptures in places as far away as France and two on the Goshen College campus. He also has sculptures at the ESPN Zone restaurant in Chicago and in Palm Springs, Calif.
Mishler compares a completed sculpture to parenting. Much like raising a child, the process of building a sculpture can be described as an "emotional drain."
"I finish a piece and have to let it go," he said.
Mishler enjoys seeing the public embrace his sculptures. Especially the bold red sculpture that sits in the middle of the Goshen College campus called the Broken Shield. The Broken Shield has been used for prayer vigils on the campus but has also been part of a prank.
One night, Mishler got a call saying that a group of students pranked the Broken Shield. The students unattached the sculpture and dragged a light piece of the structure across campus. The students were eventually caught and were asked to help Mishler repaint it and put the structure back together. They welded the structure back together, but before Mishler welded it, he smiled and said, "it really is broken."
Mishler is best known for his kinetic sculptures. These pieces have metal parts of the sculpture that move in the wind. This design often has the illusion that the moving parts are going to strike the sculpture, but come about a half-inch away from actually hitting it.
One of his better examples of this is the 21-foot tall sculpture called Sky Rhythms. The red and purple sculpture sits in front of the Goshen College Recreation-Fitness Center.
"That's one thing that sets me apart," Mishler said. "There aren't a lot of people doing it."
Mishler enjoys these structures because he's a problem solver.
"I like to be challenged," Mishler said. "It keeps me excited about being an artist."
