Kevin Conlon
My name is Kevin Conlon, and I’ve been a faculty member and administrator at several private art and design colleges. More information about my teaching and leadership work can be found on my LinkedIn profile,
My art practice has generally been in sculpture, but I also enjoy drawing, painting and other media. My work is diverse in both its content and approach, with traditional portrait commissions in cast bronze or plastics and my more metaphorical sculptures in a wide range of materials such as bronze, welded steel, concrete, wood, cast and laminated plastics, and paper.
The core of my work remains the figure. While obvious in portrait busts and drawings, in some instances the figure is less evident. Such is the case with my fragment works, which are metaphors for memory and history. Lately my work has used contrasting materials, some durable and some not, to build metaphorical narratives around ideas of time, power, strength, and integrity.
My teaching philosophy is actually a learning philosophy: From the most basic of courses to those which are far more advanced, I’ve found that the greatest gift that I can give to my students is the notion that learning never stops, even for me. I am open with students about my own enthusiasm for continued exploration and research so that they will value the approach as something they might want to model for themselves. I believe that learning, to be truly effective, needs to have more than just abstract value. If I can find a way to tie content, in a relevant and meaningful way, to what they want for themselves in the future, their investment in learning becomes more than just the grade they’ll earn at the end of term, it becomes a means by which they recognize their own continuing responsibility to the process, and the transformative benefit of education.
Joan Marie Conlon
Hi, I’m Joan Marie Conlon. I’ve served in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant, and now currently a HR professional with the federal government. More information on my experience and leadership can be found on my LinkedIn profile.
My creative passions are focused on building (or rebuilding) exterior and interior spaces that find the perfect balance between its usability (the functional considerations) and its aesthetics (its feeling or warmth). From landscaping to interior decoration, I love to work with new and used materials, the visual weight of form, palettes of color and light, the organization of hard and soft elements, and especially enhancing the overall gestalt of a place.
Most recently I’ve begun to develop spaces for children with autism. The work in this area requires a special understanding of the individual nature of the autism diagnosis and the consequent management of stimuli needed to build trust and comfort that’s conducive to communication, learning, rest, and more.
