Dan Flavin

Dan Flavin (April 1, 1933, Jamaica, New York – November 29, 1996, Riverhead, New York) was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures.

Early life and career

Daniel Nicholas Flavin Jr. was born in New York of Irish Catholic descent and sent to Catholic schools. He studied for the priesthood at the Immaculate Conception Preparatory Seminary in Brooklyn between 1947 and 1952 before leaving to join his fraternal twin brother, David John Flavin, and enlist United States Air Force. During military service in 1954–55, Flavin was trained as an air weather meteorological technician and studied art through the adult extension program of the University of Maryland in Korea. Upon his return to New York in 1956, Flavin briefly attended the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts and studied art under Albert Urban. He later studied art history for a short time at the New School for Social Research, then moved on to Columbia University, where he studied painting and drawing.

Dan Flavin (Louisiana politician)

Daniel Thomas Flavin, known as Dan Flavin (born May 31, 1957), is a Realtor in Lake Charles, Louisiana, who served from 1996-2005 as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 36 (Calcasieu and Cameron parishes). Flavin was elected as a Democrat in the nonpartisan blanket primary held in October 1995. He defeated fellow Democrat Darrell Derouen, also of Lake Charles, 63-37 percent. In 1997, Flavin switched his partisan affiliation to Republican and won new terms in 1999 and 2003. He resigned in the first part of his third term in 2005.

Flavin graduated in 1975 from Alfred M. Barbe High School in Lake Charles and thereafter attended McNeese State University. He is a past chairman of the Louisiana Real Estate Commission. Formerly with Century 21 in Lake Charles, he was the "Realtor of the Year” in Calcasieu Parish in 1987 and 1991, having been a past president of Greater Calcasieu Board of Realtors. He is also affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. Flavin and his wife, the former Lisa Joyce Jones (born May 18, 1957), reside in Lake Charles.