Maya Lin
Maya Lin was born on October 5, 1959 in Athens, Ohio. Her parents, both taught at Ohio University, her mom, Julia Lin, was a poet and her dad, Henry Lin, was a ceramist. They had fled China in 1949 right before the Communist Revolution. She also had an older brother Tan, who was also a poet. Growing up Lin enjoyed reading and building miniature towns, she also excelled in mathematics. She didn 't have many friends, and enjoyed staying at home and studying over going out with friends. In high school she lived what would seem like a pretty normal life, taking advanced classes in school and working a McDonald 's for extra money.
After high school, Lin attended Yale where she studied architecture but would sometimes sneak over to the art school and take some sculpture classes. She graduated from Yale with a Bachelor’s of Art’s degree in 1986. She then later returned to get a Master of Architecture degree. She also had been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Harvard University, Yale University, Smith College, and Williams College. She was among the youngest in Yale University when she received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987. Lin got married to Daniel Wolf and they later had two daughters, Indigo and Rachel.
A design that started as a project for school during Lin’s senior year at Yale ended up being chosen out of 1,421 other designs for the Vietnam Veteran’s War Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was picked for its simplicity. It was two 200-foot-long polished black granite walls that form an obtuse angle one side pointing to the Lincoln Memorial and the other to Washington Monument. The walls are carved with the names of all the 58,195 men and women that died or went missing during the war. Lin’s idea was that it was supposed to symbolize a wound or opening in the Earth to make it focus completely on the solders. This eventually became Lin’s most well-known work, but at first some people criticized her and her work because of her Asian heritage. Lin
After high school, Lin attended Yale where she studied architecture but would sometimes sneak over to the art school and take some sculpture classes. She graduated from Yale with a Bachelor’s of Art’s degree in 1986. She then later returned to get a Master of Architecture degree. She also had been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Harvard University, Yale University, Smith College, and Williams College. She was among the youngest in Yale University when she received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987. Lin got married to Daniel Wolf and they later had two daughters, Indigo and Rachel.
A design that started as a project for school during Lin’s senior year at Yale ended up being chosen out of 1,421 other designs for the Vietnam Veteran’s War Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was picked for its simplicity. It was two 200-foot-long polished black granite walls that form an obtuse angle one side pointing to the Lincoln Memorial and the other to Washington Monument. The walls are carved with the names of all the 58,195 men and women that died or went missing during the war. Lin’s idea was that it was supposed to symbolize a wound or opening in the Earth to make it focus completely on the solders. This eventually became Lin’s most well-known work, but at first some people criticized her and her work because of her Asian heritage. Lin
Cited: Answers. 2000. 8 October 2012. Web. Women’s History. 2003. 8 October 2012.