Susan McEachern facts for kids

Susan McEachern (born April 7, 1951) is an artist from both America and Canada. She is famous for her photography, which often includes text. Her art explores how personal experiences can connect to bigger ideas about society. She often uses pictures from her own life and home to look at themes like how people are raised, how gender roles affect us, and how we interact with nature. Since 1979, Susan McEachern has also been a professor at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University.

Learning and Education

Susan McEachern studied at several places. She earned a degree in Theatre from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also received a diploma in Visual Communication and Photography from the Banff Centre in Alberta. Later, she earned a Master of Arts degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Her master's studies focused on how society and gender affect education.

Early Art Projects

Some of Susan McEachern's first art projects include The Home (1983), The Family in the Context of Childrearing (1983 — 84), and On Living at Home (1987). These projects all focus on life inside the home.

Exploring Life at Home

On Living at Home is an art project made of four parts, using photographs and text.

• Part One - AGORAPHOBIA: This part has eight color photographs. It explores the fear some people have of leaving their home and going outside.
• Part Two - DOMESTIC IMMERSION: This part includes twelve color photographs. It looks at the unpaid work done inside the home, like chores, which is often not seen as "real" labor by the outside world.
• Part Three - MEDIA CONSUMPTION: This part has fourteen photographs, some in black and white. It examines how media often shows a "perfect housewife" fantasy. It rarely shows the difficult parts of life at home.
• Part Four - THE WORLD OUTSIDE: This part has seven photographs. It looks at shopping and everyday experiences outside the home.

Family Life in Art

The Family in the Context of Childrearing is another photo project by Susan McEachern. It also has four main parts and nearly 150 images with text. The first parts show the daily activities of caring for a family. McEachern shows a typical family with a father, mother, and two children. The last part of the project shares writings from well-known thinkers. It also includes McEachern's own thoughts on her experiences.

Stories About Society

The Creation of Desire is based on another of McEachern's experiences. It has five parts: The Stories We Are Told, Stories We Tell Ourselves, Finding Our Place / Defining Difference, Fitting In, and Stories We Can Tell. This art project explores how society's expectations for men and women can be linked to ideas about conflict and relationships. It looks at the roles people are given during challenging times.

Later Art Projects

McEachern's later projects include Questions of Nature (1994), Backyard Community (2002), Structures of Meaning (2004), and her Equine studies. These works bring in nature, which was a new topic for McEachern to explore.

Nature in Art

Questions of Nature is divided into sections: "animals," "trees and water," "garden," and "reproduction." McEachern uses the word "nature" to mean both the natural world around us (plants and animals) and our own human nature. She explores how these two ideas connect.

Nature is also a key part of Backyard Community. This project looks at how human groups are organized, using the idea of a garden and the insects that live there as an example.

Horse Studies

McEachern's Equine studies focus on horses. These include Still Seeking Athena, Herbivores, and Stable Community. Stable Community (2005) was part of her Equine studies. It was shown in her Structures of Meaning traveling exhibition. This project has twelve close-up images of horses and their riders.

Art Shows and Exhibitions

Susan McEachern's art has been shown in many places across Canada.

Early Exhibitions

Her project The Home was first shown in Montreal's Powerhouse Gallery in February 1983. From there, the show traveled to Saskatchewan and ended in Toronto's Mercer Union in June 1983.

"The Family" also traveled widely across Canada. It was shown at The Toronto Photographer's Gallery in July 1986. "Creation of Desire" was another of McEachern's works shown at The Toronto Photographer's Gallery in January 1992.

"Questions of Nature" toured Canada and was shown at the Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax in September 1994.

Later Exhibitions

One of McEachern's art pieces about the environment, "Sandy Cove Outfall," was shown at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in September 1997.

"Structures of Meaning" was shown at The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa from September 2004 to January 2005. The show then moved to the Patrick Mikhail Gallery, also in Ottawa, from March to April of the same year.

McEachern's most recent exhibition, "Fight/Flight," was from January to February 2011. It was presented at the Patrick Mikhail Gallery in Ottawa. "Fight/Flight" is part of Susan McEachern's ongoing Equine studies. It shows the connection between horses and humans.

Susan McEachern has also been part of group art shows. Two of these are "Roots and Shoots" and "Microcosm." "Roots and Shoots" was an exhibition at the Mount Saint Vincent Gallery in Halifax. It was shown from August to September 2006. "Microcosm" was displayed at the Patrick Mikhail Gallery in Ottawa from September to October 2009.

Art Collections

Susan McEachern's artwork is part of several important art collections. These include the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Dalhousie Art Gallery, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Walter Phillips Gallery, the Photographers Gallery, the Nova Scotia Art Bank, Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery, and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography.