Artist
Suzanne Fetscher
President and CEO McColl Center for Art + Innovation
come from people who aren’t as close to problems as those typically tasked with solving the problems. Early in his career, artist and inventor David Martin tackled a project that involved inventing new materials and methods to cast metals for an art installation. Everyone at the studios and foundries approached for the project said it was impossible, so Martin hired a staff with zero foundry experience, people who had no idea what was or was not possible. Through trial and error, Martin and his team figured it out and made something beautiful. “It was an art project but had nothing to do with art. It was my first research and development project,” says Martin. He took that experience and, without a formal degree in science, went on to become a Disney
imagineer and a research scientist in Lockheed Martin’s remarkable Skunk Works division. His work led to the first articulated aircraft seat made entirely of composite materials, which reduced aircraft weight, and the embedded fiber optic sensors that monitor the structural integrity of composites, making these materials safer for a wider variety of uses. He also founded Charlotte-based ScentAir, a scent marketing company. Martin believes that some of the best ideas—those that seem to drop fully formed from the sky—really do come from a higher power to those who are receptive. What if the most receptive person in a company is the receptionist or the accountant or the slightly awkward intern? When a company needs to generate ideas that bring value to its customers or to design
Provocateur
Suzanne Fetscher was appointed founding president of McColl Center for Art + Innovation in April 1998. In 2005, she created the Innovation Institute at McColl Center for Visual Art, a program led by artists and designed to help senior-level executives understand where creative capacity lies and how to nurture it, create a culture that supports it, and harness it for organizational or business advancement. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s in fine arts.
David Phillips
Innovation Provocateur Faster Glass Consulting LLC After thirteen years working for large corporations and consulting firms, David launched Faster Glass Consulting in 2010 “to help people grow their businesses and to help businesses grow their people” through innovation and peoplecentered design. His company offers solution design workshops, innovation training, ethnographic research, and visual storytelling. In addition to running his business, he is also the Innovation Institute’s interim director.
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