Diane M. Kirkpatrick

I am one of Diane's former students (UofM - Class of 1980.) One of my fondest memories of her was, for my class with her, we could create a work of art in the style of an artist we were studying. I made a silkscreened painting, a la Andy Warhol, with a repeated image of Diane's face. We hung our creations around the lecture auditorium for display, and at the end of the class, the TA approached me and asked if I would be willing to give the painting to Diane. She was too shy to ask herself. I...

Diane will be a cherished friend and mentor for the rest of my days. We created the interdisciplinary discussion group, Interface, at the School of Art with Jon Rush, Sculpture, in the early 1980´s that brought together physicists, engineers, musicians, art historians, artists and scholars across the university´s disciplines! These were fun and inspiring evenings that led to the years Diane and I shared our interests in topics just as diverse. Just as the scientists studying Quark decay...

As were so many others, I was pressed by Professor Kirkpatrick to defend, then rethink my tentative approaches, work to better understand what my heroes had done, and redefine my approach to art, art history, and creativity. She helped me shape my life.

I was an undergraduate student in her class in Art History where I learned about the great art in Europe Through an opportunity I was able to travel in Europe for 6 months subsequently and had the journey of a lifetime visiting many of the art work and the places she introduced students to. She expanded our vistas and our minds for which I will be always grateful

n the 1980s, Diane gave me the opportunity to participate in two of her graduate seminars. This introduced me, a latecomer with little formal training, to the History of Art as it is practiced in the major leagues. My admiration of her grew as I saw how she led the seminar to develop a sense of its own self as its members challenged one another in pursuit of larger understandings. It was clear that she believed in each of us . . . and she conveyed this belief in a manner that has lasted...

I will find it hard not to have Diane in my life as she has been for many many years. She was my professor, my mentor and my very dear friend. We spent many happy times together in Ann Arbor and in the UK going to concerts, galleries, films or simply drinking wine that facilitated hours of conversation and laughter! We shared an innate sense of spirituality based on a basic belief in humanity and the desire to seek out the best in ourselves. With much love.