Seamus Heaney is widely recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century. A native of Northern Ireland, Heaney was raised in County Derry, and later lived for many years in Dublin. He was the author of over 20 volumes of poetry and criticism, and edited several widely used anthologies. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past." Heaney taught at Harvard University (1985-2006) and served as the Oxford Professor of Poetry (1989-1994). He died in 2013.

Jean Shin is nationally recognized for her monumental sculptures and installations that transform everyday objects into elegant expressions of identity and community. Shin created "Celedon Remnants" for the LIRR Broadway Station in Flushing, Queens, and "Elevated" for the 63 St subway station in Manhattan. In addition to numerous awards, her work has been widely exhibited in major national and international museums, including in solo exhibitions at the Montclair Art Museum (2013), DeCordova Museum (2012), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (2010), Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC (2009), the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia (2006), and The Museum of Modern Art in New York (2004).

Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in America, Shin attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1999 and received a BFA and MS from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She lives and works in New York City.