Janet Echelman

Janet Echelman's talk last Thursday was incredibly insightful and inspiring. First off, her work if phenomenal. Part of what makes her work so interesting (aside form the visual aspects themselves) is the journey she took to get her work to where it is today. Hearing about the places she traveled, the people she met and got to work with, the things she has seen, all seemed to major influential elements to what shaped her work. She got her idea to work with net like structures when she was living in India and began to make sculptures because she had no paint. From there, her work took off to these giant forms that reshaped the sky, creating forms that seem to nestle almost perfectly in the space they were created for.

I had the honor of sitting next to her husband, who had a few opportunities to talk about his wife's work. Every time he spoke he always so pumped about the things his wife was doing and that he was a part of it.  Echelman created a strong collaborative relationship with engineers and architects to create the things she imagined. She talked a lot about the process of how her sculptures came to be. There was way more planning and experimenting and making mock-ups than I thought there would have to be.

Overall, I was very impressed with her lecture and he work. I find myself inspired to push myself harder to become a successful artist after I leave the Ringling community.

Dede Young

Dede Young is an extremely accomplished business women in the art world. I unfortunately missed her talk but have ready some very interesting about her. Currently in the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea, Young has had numerous experiences of curating, consulting, and educating. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fl, which is where my brother also graduated from and where my interest in art exploded. I would visit the Harn museum on the weekends and be inspired, much like Young, to throw myself into the art community. I see Young as a major influence of my career path to become a part of museum and gallery environments. Working in the Crossley now I feel that I would flourish being in either environment on a business and creative stand point.