Tamsin Dillon lists those who have inspired her professional life.
Cindy Sherman
I met Cindy Sherman in 2003 when she made the first of a series of billboard commission projects as part of Platform for Art at Gloucester Road Underground station. This was an important milestone in the development of the programme, setting its pace and ambition. What made the project and the meeting special was that her work had been important to me for many years; it is quite something to meet and work with an artist who has become an iconic figure in the history of contemporary art. This commission will always be a watershed moment for me.
Tim OToole
Tim OToole, Managing Director of London Underground (LU), is leading the organisation through one of the most challenging periods of its long history. Through a massive investment programme the entire network is undergoing a process of modernisation. Tim is motivating a huge staff to do this whilst continuing to deliver a safe and reliable train service. With so much at stake, Tim provides a compelling role model, who inspires the confidence that all at LU need to realise the task ahead of them. Tims support of the Platform for Art programme stems from values first established at LU early in the 20th Century that made it go on to become one of todays most consistent public patrons of the arts. .
Iwona Blazwick
Now Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, I met her when she was an independent curator and one of my tutors at the Royal College of Art (RCA) where I took my MA in Visual Arts Administration. She introduced me to some of the crucial models of practice that have since underpinned my own ideas. She also inspired me to realise what can be achieved by being prepared to work extremely hard! After leaving the RCA I sought Iwonas advice on one of my first big projects and found it invaluable.
Susan Sontag
Reading Susan Sontags iconic text On Photography in my very early student days gave me my first insights into the subject and into reading images; it helped confirm for me that I had made the right decision to study art. I continued to admire her for many reasons and have been consistently inspired by the range of areas she has written about and worked on, and the way she developed her academic thinking throughout her life. She is one of the bold, determined and brave women who have been a consistent influence and inspiration to me.
Isabel Vasseur
Isabel is the Director of the independent public art commissioning agency ArtOffice and has been commissioning and producing public art works all over the UK since the 1980s. Isabel was the source of one or two crucial early opportunities for me and has since remained an important colleague. I have always been impressed by the way she encourages people early on in their careers and continues to support them as they develop. I think that attitude is vital for all to adopt.
Tamsin Dillon is Director of London Undergrounds art programme Platform for Art. w: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pfa