Meet your Board  Susan Else

I am a sculptor who works in collaged and quilted cloth, but it took me many years to discover that vocation. Long ago and in another lifetime, I worked as an editor and writer for non-profit institutions, and later I became the registrar for a museum art collection. Fiber and fabric were a long-term interest, but since I grew up in a family of artists, I was rebelliously reluctant to follow in those genetic footprints. Seventeen years ago I gave up the struggle, bit the bullet, and became an art quilter. Soon thereafter I stared incorporating three-dimensional elements in my wall quilts, and my work rapidly morphed into figurative, narrative sculpture. It’s been a wild and exciting ride since then.

Given the odd nature of my work, I’ve always been an outlier in the quilt and even the art-quilt world, but SAQA has always been welcoming and supportive. Early in my membership, I wrote to the SAQA leadership, wondering why most SAQA exhibitions were closed to 3D work. I got an immediate, thoughtful response, and of course I was asked to serve on a committee to help solve the problem! Since then, I’ve watched as more and more SAQA shows have become sculpture-friendly, despite the financial, shipping, and display challenges. This is only one example of how this organization works to meet the evolving needs of its varied membership.

I’m honored to have been asked to serve on the SAQA board, and I hope that all the aspects of my checkered career prove useful in this work.