After Guilford
Tom Risser ’85
CEO, US Bottlers Machinery Co.
Designs and promotes custom packaging machinery for the food and industrial products market. In down time creates stainless steel sculpture.
“My experiences at Guilford in photography, graphic layouts, drawing, and even darkroom work, have all been used in my professional life beyond some of my more traditional science based classroom studies….which one might not have expected as I pursued an engineering degree after graduation. The disciplines emphasized in these practices apply beyond the studio by expanding the students ability to “see”. To be able to visualize an idea and imagine the solution speaks to a style of thinking that I feel came more from these experiences at Guilford than other text based concepts. Only now do I understand how critical these “hands-on” artistic ventures were in my preparation for the real world. Specifically photography and drawing – to capture a moment and a perspective. Sculpture and ceramics to see with our hands. And graphic design for today’s integration into computer aided publishing for our brochures, advertisements, bookmaking and web site. Sometimes I think the art experiences at Guilford shaped my life more so than my declared major that I dedicated 4 years to so intensely.”
Laurie Meehan-Elmer
LME images
Provides pet related images for editorial, commercial, private, and not-for-profit use as well as nature and wildlife images promoting conservation and protection of our natural resources.
“I value each and every course and learning opportunity I had at Guilford. However, the reality is that just about every bit of classroom education I received, I could have received on my own by reading books. An EXCEPTION would be studio art courses. There is simply no substitute for the interactive learning environment offered through a studio art course.”
Amanda Armbrust
High end framing and art preservation
“Creating visual arts challenges you to develop abstract ideas, to articulate those ideas in a visual context, and furthermore present them in a unique and truly individual way. …With the economy as it is, there is no better skill than creative adaptation of ones “tools” to a new environment….These skills, as well as detailed processes in printmaking and the design concepts of painting and drawing classes, have undoubtedly helped me in mastering high end framing and art preservation techniques, how to help design renovations at the cafe where I work, how to design and build my own small business space, and countless other experiences.”
