Susan Parks is a Visual Artist who works primarily in Jewelry, Textiles, and Works on Paper.

Biography

Susan J. Parks was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and attended Middle Tennessee State University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1975 with a concentration in jewelry, textiles, and printmaking.  From 1982-84, she attended the Banff Centre, School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta, Canada where she developed a body of work in the Textile Department.  An Apprenticeship with Rebecca Medel in the Textile Department of the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Smithville, Tennessee led her to assist Ms. Medel in executing a large sculpture for the Lausanne Bienial of Textiles in Switzerland. 

She worked in the fine jewelry business from 1984-1990 and did residencies and workshops in art for the Hamilton County Schools, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga and Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, and the Creative Arts Guild in Dalton, GA.  After serving for a year as the Art Coordinator for the newly opened Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she began working as an Art Teacher for the Cleveland City Schools in Cleveland, Tennessee where she was employed from 1996 until 2012. In 2012, she became an art teacher with Hamilton County Schools, Signal Mountain Middle High School and served until 2022.

Work includes jewelry and wearables, costumes and puppets, wind sculptures, fabric banners and paintings, and paintings and drawings on paper.  She designed 44 pieces of wind sculpture for the World University Games in Edmonton, Alberta in 1983.  She designed fabric installations for 212 Market Street Restaurant and Chattanooga State Community College in Chattanooga.  She has designed puppets and costumes for the Tennessee Aquarium, the Adopt-a-Coast program in Florida and many private individuals since 1992. Fabric and textiles have been exhibited nationally and appear in many private and corporate collections.

Awards include “Best of Metals” from the Tennessee Artist-Craftsman Association in 1977, Scholarships to the Banff Centre, 1st place in “Color, the Spectrum of Expression” in 1986, and Third Place in the Second National Fiber Arts Competition in 1989. Several times, she has exhibited in Four Bridges Art Show in Chattanooga, TN several times.

Professional work includes serving on the Volunteer Boards of the Association of Visual Artists and the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga, Art Selection Advisory Committee for Ross’s Landing, Chattanooga, and serving on the Allied Arts and Liesure Council of Cleveland/Bradley County. She was former President of The Tennessee Valley Rock and Mineral Club, a member of the Association for Visual Artists, and Hunter Museum of American Art.

Artist Statement

“From the earliest work up to the present, I have been concerned about relating humans to the natural environment through scale, movement, and function of the pieces I create. The media I use to express this concern range from watercolor, colored pencil, silk painting with dyes, sewing, and costumes, to intricate woven beadwork and jewelry.
Color, line, and pattern are the elements that dominate my work and guide the images to speak to the people who experience these works of art.
Whether the color is sometimes very soft or sometimes extremely bold, I like to graduate colors, values and shades to give vibrancy, dimension, and movement to the pieces. The patterns formed by fluid, repeated lines or definition lines become what the emphasis of the work is about in much the same way as our patterns of thinking and of living become what we are about.
I hold fast to maintain deeply personal themes and subjects that I encounter based on culture and experience. I also contemplate themes common to all humans regardless of any particular culture, such as the wonder and solace of nature, seasons, and animal life, or themes about survival and the view of humans as an inseparable part of nature.”

Experience Overview

  • Member of the Association for Visual Artists, Chattanooga, TN Member of the Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN

    Volunteer Art Teaching for the Humane Educational Association, 2023 Tennessee Valley Rock and Mineral Club, President, 2009-12

    Ross’s Landing Art Selection Advisory Committee, 1989-1990 Association for Visual Artists, Board of Directors, 1990-1992 Hunter Museum Volunteer Board of Directors, 1992-1993 Allied Arts and Leisure Council of Cleveland, TN, 2002-2012

  • Hand-dyed wool for coat designed by Erte, approved by Erte, designer, NYC. Commissioned by Gabriolle Van Bryce, Banff, Alberta, Canada for traveling exhibition.

    Numerous animal costumes and puppets for the Tennessee Aquarium, Department of Education and Marketing Department, Chattanooga, TN, 1990-@2012.

    Blue Heron and Paddlefish puppets for the Clean Water Project Foundation for Global Sustainability, 1991.

    Kite-Bird Sculptures, 212 Market Street Restaurant, Chattanooga, TN, 1992. Frank McDonald, Architect, Jane Wilson, Interior Designer.

    Imagination Station playground Flags, Jimmy Eller, Architect, Ooltewah, TN, 1992.

    Banner Sculpture Installation, Humanities Building, Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Chattanooga, TN, 1994.

    Brooks the Book Frog costume and logo for the Chattanooga Bicentennial Library, Chattanooga, TN, 1994.

  • Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN

    Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, TN

    H. Cary Hanlin, Chattanooga, TN/Chris Hanlin,

    Cincinatti, Ohio, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

    Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN

    The Banff Centre, (Alberta Culture), Banff, Alberta, Canada

    Ryan Lycht Sang Bipolar Foundation, Chicago, IL

  • Best of Metals, Super Oaks ’77, Tennessee

    Artist-Craftsman Association, Nashville, TN.

    Scholarships including the Nat Christie Foundation to attend the Banff Centre,

    Banff, Alberta, Canada, 1982-1984.

    City Decoration Project Grant to design 44 wind sculptures items for buildings for the World University Games in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Worked with a Native American women’s group to fabricate them.

    Color, The Spectrum of Expression, first prize, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

    Artist-in-Residence, Association of Visual Artists and Miller Plaza, Chattanooga, TN, 1988.

    Second National Fiber Arts Competition, third prize, Creative Arts Guild, Dalton, GA, 1989.

    Artstravaganza, third prize, Fine Crafts Category, 1993, Chattanooga, TN.

  • Assisted Rebecca Medel with the execution of a netted sculpture for the 12th International Biennial of Tapestry held in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dyed, netted and helped construct a large portion of the project she designed, 1984, Smithville, TN

    Architectural banners created with art teachers, Juanita Tumelaire, art students and PTO for commons area, Chattanooga, TN

    Architectural banner mobiles created with the Craft Department, teachers, students, and a Tennessee Valley Authority engineer for the commons area of Soddy Daisy High School, Soddy Daisy, TN

    Installation of 30 ft. dyed/painted banners on the ceiling of the Humanities Building, Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Chattanooga, TN