a look at...
Trish Duggan
photography by Serge Rameli
Glass artist, philanthropist and Imagine Museum founder
Trish Duggan lives in Belleair Beach. She attended the
University of California at Santa Barbara and has her
office in downtown Clearwater.
What are you famous for?
I am known for my work in human rights, my philanthropy
and for my art. I have been working on human rights for more
than 30 years supporting speakers, individuals and especially
the Youth for Human Rights program. I have supported
a broad variety of philanthropic endeavors including
my church, the university I attended, drug and criminal
rehabilitation programs, anti-sex trafficking, disaster relief
and many other programs. I was president of a Santa Barbara
adoption support group and have encouraged hundreds of
people to adopt. I have founded the Imagine Museum in
St. Petersburg and also have created more than 5,000 works of
art in glass and printmaking.
Who is your role model?
Eleanor Roosevelt is one of my role models. I gave a speech
on her life at the United Nations. She helped to write the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes one
of my favorite concepts, “All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit
of brotherhood.”
What don’t people know about you?
I was one of the first women to go river rafting down rapids
of many of the great rivers in the world, including the
Zambezi in Africa, Brahmaputra in India, Yangtse in Tibet, the
Bio Bio in Chile and the Katun in Siberia. I love the water and
I still surf overhead waves in Costa Rica. My parents included
a young boy from Palau Island in our family, and he bought
me my first surfboard when I was 16. I’m still surfing more
than 50 years later.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
That would be establishing the inspirational Imagine
Museum with augmented and virtual reality in St. Petersburg
to highlight and recognize the more than 60 American
glass artists. Next I will create an international museum to
acknowledge the other worldwide phenomenal glass artists.
How would you describe yourself?
I am enthusiastic, energetic and one who perseveres. I firmly
believe that I create my own energy. It’s definitely a mind over
matter consideration.
What is your motto?
“Have a happy day.” I got that from my mom. Be positive.
Anything negative is strictly temporary.
What could you talk about for hours?
I am grateful to be an American, experiencing such a wide
variety of different cultures, ideas and viewpoints. I majored in
political science and could discuss the incredible opportunities
we have to choose what to think, what to do and what to be.
What do you do on your day off?
I rarely take a day off, as I love what I do. Since I have raised
eight children, my weekends were filled with swimming,
hiking, surfing, going to museums, aquariums, bookstores and
always the library. I love to read, learn and acquire wisdom.
What is your fondest memory?
Climbing to the top of Mt. Fuji in Japan and Huayna Picchu
above Machu Pichu in Peru were thrilling and extroverting.
Teaching my children to swim when they were 5 months
old was incredibly heart warming for me because I’d been a
lifeguard and swim instructor in high school.
What would you like to do that you have never done?
I would like to go into outer space. In school when we landed
men on the moon, my science teacher assured us that when
we were adults, we’d most likely get to vacation on the moon.
What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could play a musical instrument. When I was a
fundraiser for the Santa Barbara Symphony in California, I put
on the symphony ball two years in a row. I took piano lessons
from the woman who played the piano for the symphony. It
was then that I realized the depth of dedication required to be
an excellent musician. I still listen to classical music every night.
What is your most treasured possession?
My feeling of inner peace is by far my most treasured possession.
Who would you most like to meet?
That would be Elon Musk, who is an inspirational visionary
and a giant of a thinker and dreamer. I am an investor in
SpaceX and was able to sit in the front row center seat when
he unveiled his two new trucks and the red sports car that he
sent to Mars. Our company gave the gift of 11 new Teslas to
our employees.
How would you like to be remembered?
I would most like to be remembered as one who helped
educate, inspire and uplift others. 9
140 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020