"Before we can proceed, we have to get our bearings. The pieces in Willow Acre derive from a specific physical space to which I am trying to pay attention. I have had limited success in the application of eye and hand, but something more of the struggle between form and ego has been discovered."

Valerie Mann, a native Floridian, holds a B.A. in English literature from Florida State University. She received her M.A. degree from Columbia University and later abdicated doctoral studies and the M.F.A. program in film studies there for training in the professional theatre. In 1992 she founded The Faulty Beagle Gallery as a forum for focused human communication through the arts.