Willie Baronet at TEDxSMU

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• published: 24 Jan 2013
• views: 5248

Willie is an artist, professor and life/business coach living in Dallas. For 15 years he owned and managed an advertising design firm, which he sold in 2006. In 2011, he graduated with an MFA in Arts & Technology from UTD, and currently teaches in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU. Willie has been buying and collecting signs from the homeless since 1993, stemming from his discomfort over dealing with people on street corners asking for money. What transpired was a personal journey that changed the way he felt about the homeless, as he began to get to know them as people. While getting his MFA, he began creating art utilizing these signs (video, installation, interventionist performances and other mixed media), and has now participated in several group and solo exhibitions. The process of collecting the signs and of making art with them continues to transform him. About TEDx: In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)