(Columbus, OH)— Ohio Designer Craftsmen’s Outstanding Achievement Award will be presented to Wooster fiber artist Susan Shie for her lifelong dedication to the art of quilting, the development of a distinctive style, and her commitment to teaching, mentoring and supporting fellow artists.
Shie received her B.A. from the College of Wooster in 1981 and her M.F.A. from Kent State University School of Art in 1986, both in painting—only because there was no quilting option. Her mother taught her to sew when she was young, and she wanted to experiment with both mediums. An understanding advisor at Wooster gave her free reign, so she began painting on unstretched canvas.
Shie considers herself an outsider artist, because she doesn’t neatly fit into the painting tradition or the art quilting world. “To me,” she says, “an outsider artist is one who creates intuitively, according to her own passions, regardless of the amount of education she has.” Her art quilts begin with sketches. She then uses an airbrush to instinctively draw and paint the images onto stretched canvas hung on the wall. “It won’t look exactly like I sketched it, but it’s just an idea. When I expand it onto the cloth, I’m flexible about how it turns out.”
After other images are added, she uses an air pen to write her thoughts (all spontaneous) on the quilt. “It’s like writing a diary about my life and what’s happening in the world,” she explains. “It’s what I’m thinking about. It’s a time capsule—I can look back and see what I was thinking about at the time.” Current events and prominent figures are a big part of her art as well—in 2023, for instance, she focused on environmental activists Rachel Carson, Annie Leonard and Greta Thunberg.
She has been teaching workshops and classes in fiber art and freehand drawing for as long as she’s been making art—across the country, in her home studio and, since COVID, by Zoom. There are no art rules in Shie’s classes: “What I’m after is to teach you to fiercely love your own natural drawing, painting and writing, and believe in yourself.”
In 1986, she started WAGE (then Women Artists Group Effort), a support group for female artists in Wooster, “because I wanted other artists to talk to.” Just one person attended that first meeting at the Wayne Center for the Arts, but Shie was persistent. Forty years later, the group—now Wayne Artists Group Effort to include men—is still going strong. They meet once a month to share what they’re working on. An exhibition of members’ works is presented once a year at the arts center.
Recognized nationally, Shie has received numerous honors for her work, including two National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Grants; as well as three Individual Artist Fellowships, a Major Artist Fellowship Grant, a six-month residency at MoMA PS1 in New York City, and an Artist Exchange Program in Shaanxxi Province, China—all through the Ohio Arts Council.
Her work has been shown in numerous exhibitions across the country, including multiple “Best of…” members’ competitions, in which she has received countless awards for excellence. An active member of Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Shie says “it’s nice that Ohio has such an active art program. I love going to the shows, seeing everyone else’s work and meeting other artists.”
Shie will accept her award during the opening reception of “Best of 2026,” Sunday, May 3, at 3:00 p.m.
