Susan K. Schroeder

Susan K. Schroeder was born in 1940 in Conneaut, OH. As a textile artist, Schroeder drew inspiration from her interest in nature and particularly the dramatic four seasons of Northeast Ohio. As a child, Schroeder collected “raw materials” from the nature surrounding her home—thawing clay in the spring, wildflowers during the summer, snow on the evergreens during the winter, and sunsets all year round. Schroeder uses the vibrant colors of these natural materials in her spinning and dyeing technique.

Schroeder earned her BA and MA in Art Education at Kent State University. She used that degree to inspire the young students of Summit and Portage County for thirty-two years as a public-school teacher and assistant professor at Kent. Additionally, Schroeder worked as gallery director at KSU’s Trumbull Campus. While a professor at Kent, she taught Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Professor of Ceramics at Southwest School of Art in San Antonio. The class with Schroeder was Datchuk’s first art class— “This class allowed me to be more introspective…I let go of these rules and found the process of making to be an outlet…” As Datchuk says, Susan left her mark as an artist and educator in Northeast Ohio, inspiring countless others to pursue their passions.

In 1977-1978, the United States Friendship Committee Chose Schroeder to participate in the Fiber Arts Program as one of the 311 artists representing the United States at the Conference of the World Crafts Council in Kyoto. Two thousand four hundred crafts persons from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand attended. With Kyoto as the host city, the artists exhibited their work, demonstrated techniques, sold products, and gave lectures to their peers.

In the exhibition Meditations at the Kentler International Drawing Space, Susan describes her artistic style as “those most often used by women, fabric, dye, and the sewing machine. They evoke banners or laundry on the line as the gallery air currents disturb their un-stretched edges. They emphasize their strength and fragility in their presentation… To me they [the newer works] are analogues and meditations reflecting trends in the art of women for centuries.”