When I visited Carbondale as a part of my application to the MFA program there, I was impressed by Tom Walsh and his commitment to students.  The chance to work with someone like Tom, who takes his students very seriously, and invests time and focus into their development, was what sold me on the program.  From the first visit I could see the bond shared by many in the program. Team building is an important aspect in an endeavor like metal casting, because foundry work is a group effort. In addition, I could see that Tom prioritized students’ growth, while at the same time putting consistent effort and discipline into creating and developing his own work and career as an artist.  This made him truly a mentor.

Tangible ways that Tom went out of his way to guide and shape students’ art making and career development included our periodic “Rap Sessions”, where we would critique each other’s work. The discussions could be anxiety provoking but learning to talk about and defend one’s work is an important skill not to shy away from.  Also memorable was the evening professional development meetings across the street from the Glove Factory, at the Side-Tracks Bar, where students came bearing their resume/CV, artist statements, and bios, so we could learn how to edit and polish them up for job applications.  He also shared with us about interview techniques and shared stories about what worked or didn't work.  Other professors didn’t necessarily put in the extra time to do this kind of important mentoring, and I remember students from other departments showing up at these sessions, because they realized they needed more information to transition out of a college program into their career life.  One fun tradition of the sculpture program was the Limerick Contest, which I think was a yearly event.  Another priority of Tom’s was to document memorable events.  He always insisted on taking a group picture of everyone in the program together with visiting artists when they came to work with us.  I have a few of these photos which I still cherish.