About William Cochran
William Cochran is a celebrated creator of landmark public spaces and artworks, specializing in projects that are seamlessly integrated into their social and architectural contexts, while maintaining a strong sense of the human hand. He has been an influential member of numerous design teams and has collaborated with many artists and design professionals.
For over three decades, William and his partner and wife, Teresa, have partnered with diverse government, corporate, cultural and community organizations to bring to life impactful projects. Their work extends to master planning and visioning for public art and placemaking, often including facilitation of community engagement processes, stakeholder design charettes and large-scale public participation initiatives.
He was one of eight international artists chosen for an artist residency at the Château de La Napoule complex on the French Riviera. He recently pioneered a transformative, sustainable streetscape design and public art master plan for Cumberland, Maryland's historic city center, now under construction.
His projects have won the National Glass Association's Award for Excellence, the Core Values Award from the International Association for Public Participation (for Community Bridge), two American Public Works Association's Project of the Year awards, the Robert Macon Award for Urban Innovation, one of the top grants in the nation from the NEA Mayor's Institute on City Design 25th Anniversary Initiative, and the Historic Preservation Award from Peerless Rockville. His place in contemporary public art is acknowledged in Robert Bersson's art history textbook "Responding to Art."
His early work in Frederick, Maryland contributed to the city winning many national awards. Community Bridge (1998), one of the studio's best-known early projects, is beginning a multi-year recreation using state of the art materials to address damage from years of neglect that resulted in systemic water infiltration issues.
His diverse public art projects include several permanent glass sculptures, such as an array at the entrance to Baltimore's Druid Hill Park, an illuminated stacked glass tower on a Washington DC street corner to honor the original site of the Whitman Walker Clinic, and a leaning cluster of dichoric glass "arrows" in the ground in an urban courtyard in Alexandria, Virginia.
William is a frequent speaker who inspires audiences at universities, museums, and conferences with his insights into vision, creativity and the mysteries of human perception.
About Teresa Cochran
As a Public Art and Participation Planner/Consultant/Facilitator at Cochran Studio, Teresa Cochran is a driving force in the creation of large-scale public participation processes and the management of significant, site-specific public artworks.
A trained specialist in public participation, Teresa excels in orchestrating processes that gather diverse stakeholder and public input, shaping development strategies for public site design and public art trails and artworks. Her collaboration extends across various sectors, including government, community-based, corporate, and non-profit organizations.
Teresa's consultancy roles include city public art programs and innovative community engagement initiatives. She has been a public art consultant for an American Institute of Architects' Sustainable Design Assessment Team that helps cities envision a sustainable future.
Teresa was co-founder and founding executive director of Shared Vision: Public Art for Community Transformation and its director of public participation. Shared Vision's inaugural project, Community Bridge (1998), is recognized as an early exemplar of mass-scale public participation and arts-based revitalization and has helped catalyze more than $300 million in public and private development around it.
A recipient of the Core Values Award from the International Association of Public Participation (2000), Teresa also leads corporate training programs. As chairman of the board, she played a pivotal role in the construction of the world's first Platinum LEED-certified school building in Maryland. She has directed national arts-based educational conferences and co-founded Shared Vision: Public Art for Community Transformation, recognized for its pioneering approach to public participation in the arts. |