Suzanne Jackson (artist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Suzanne Jackson
Jackson at Wormsloe Historic Site, Savannah, Georgia, 2018
Born	(1944-01-30) January 30, 1944 (age 81) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Other names	Suzanne Fitzallen Jackson, Suzanne Jackson Odùsolú
Education	San Francisco State University (BA), Yale University (MFA)

Suzanne Jackson (born in 1944) is an amazing American artist. She is also a gallery owner, a poet, a teacher, and a set designer for plays. Her career has lasted for over 50 years!

Suzanne's art has been shown in museums and galleries all over the world. Since the late 1960s, she has focused on creating art. She has also been involved in theater, teaching, helping art organizations, and working to make her community better. Suzanne's many talents include writing poetry, dancing, designing costumes, and creating paintings and drawings.

She has spent a lot of time teaching students. She has helped inspire many future artists. Suzanne also loves building strong art communities with other artists and thinkers. She worked in Los Angeles from the 1960s to the 1980s. There, she started her own art space called Gallery 32. She also showed her art at the Ankrum Gallery. In the 1980s, she lived in Idyllwild, California, where she taught and made art. Later, she worked at Yale University and in New York and Philadelphia in the 1990s. From 1996 to 2009, she was an important part of the art community in Savannah, Georgia.

Early Life and Learning

Suzanne Jackson was born in 1944 in Saint Louis, Missouri. When she was just nine months old, her family moved to San Francisco, California. She lived in San Francisco until she was eight. Then, from 1952 to 1961, she grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. She finished high school at Monroe Catholic High School in 1961.

As a teenager in Alaska, Suzanne joined the National Audubon Society. This group helps protect birds and nature. Being part of it influenced her art from a young age. She was also the first African American to attend the National 4-H Congress in Chicago in 1960. This helped her get scholarships for college. She received scholarships from The International Latham Foundation, the Banff School of Fine Arts, Standard Oil, and National Home Study Art Course.

Suzanne went to San Francisco State University (SFSU). There, she studied both art and ballet. She earned a bachelor's degree in painting. While at SFSU, she worked with famous artists and teachers like Charles White. She also helped set up art shows at the campus gallery and taught art at St. Stephen's Catholic School.

Later, in 1990, she earned a master's degree from the School of Drama at Yale University. She focused on designing sets for plays.

Suzanne's Art Career

1960s to 1970s: Starting Out

After college, Suzanne toured South America with a ballet company. She then came back to California and settled in Echo Park. When she returned, she took a drawing class at Otis Art Institute with Charles White. This is where she met other California artists like Dan Concholar and Timothy Washington.

In 1968, Suzanne opened her own art gallery called Gallery 32. It ran for two years, and she paid for it herself. During the 1970s, Suzanne had many solo art shows at the Ankrum Gallery. This gallery was run by actress Joan Wheeler Ankrum. Suzanne also created artist books that combined poetry and painting. These included "What I Love" (1972) and "Animals" (1978).

1980s to 1990s: Teaching and Designing

In 1981, Suzanne was invited to be a visiting artist at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. Also in 1981, her art was part of a traveling exhibition called “Forever Free: African American Women.”

Suzanne lived in Idyllwild, California, from 1981 to 1985. She taught art as a Visiting Artist at the Idyllwild School of Music and Arts. She also led the Fine and Performing Arts Department at the Elliott-Pope Preparatory School.

In 1987, Suzanne moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to study at Yale University. She earned her master's degree in theater design, learning from Ming Cho Lee. She worked as a freelance designer for sets and costumes. She moved around the region, working in different places. From 1994 to 1996, she was a set designer and assistant professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland. In 1996, Suzanne moved to Savannah, Georgia, full-time. She taught painting as a professor at Savannah College of Art and Design until 2009.

2000s to Today: Continuing Her Passion

Suzanne officially retired from SCAD in 2009. However, she continued to teach part-time until 2013. She also taught art history, including African American Art History, at Savannah State University in 2013–2014.

Suzanne remains an active part of the Savannah art community. She continues to create and show her artwork. She also co-hosts a weekly radio show called Listen Hear on WHCJ 90.3 Savannah State University Radio. The show features jazz music and conversations. In 2019, Suzanne received a special grant for painters and sculptors from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Since 2019, her art has been represented by Ortuzar in New York.

How Suzanne Creates Art

Suzanne Jackson has had a long and successful career. She believes that being an artist means solving problems, not just making pictures. She once said, “I'm not an artist yet. I'm a painter. And I draw, and I work in theater as an artist person, but to become an artist takes a whole lifetime.”

Throughout her career, Suzanne has found inspiration in nature. She often connects the idea of "blackness" to nature in her work. Her art celebrates black people and culture.

Visual Art: Paintings and More

Suzanne has worked with many different art materials. These include works on paper, paintings on canvas, and monoprints (a type of printmaking). Her works on paper include watercolors and drawings.

She mostly uses acrylic paint. Her early paintings on canvas had many thin layers of acrylic paint. This technique is like how old master painters would layer oil paints. She explained that even if the color looks thin, there could be 150 layers of paint on one of her paintings! These layers create a feeling of depth.

In the 1990s, her art style changed. She started trying different combinations of materials. As her style grew, Suzanne began to use netting instead of canvas. She uses special acrylic gels to create 3D hanging artworks. These pieces are held together with fabric, paper, found objects, leaves, and different types of netting.

Her visual art is displayed in public museum collections. These include the Museum of Modern Art, the California African American Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Hammer Museum at UCLA.

Theater and Costume Design

After graduating from Yale in 1990, Suzanne traveled around the Northeast (Connecticut, New York, and Philadelphia) and parts of California. She worked as a freelance designer for theater sets and costumes. Her costume designs were shown in an exhibition called "Onstage: A Century of African American Stage Design" at Lincoln Center in New York.

Some of her theater work includes:

• BLUES ROOM, Realto Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997
• THE SNOW QUEEN, Scenic and Costume design for the touring company, 1996–98
• CHILDREN OF THE SUN, Costume design, 1996–98
• Set designer at St. Mary's College of Maryland, 1994-96
• STAMPING, SHOUTING, AND SINGING HOME, Mark Taper Forum, 1993
• BOSEMAN AND LENA at the Philadelphia Drama Guild, 1990
• PERICLES and DAYLIGHT IN EXILE at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1990
• ROSE OF THE RANCHO, El Teatro Campesino, 1989
• All costumes for Barbara Feldman & Dancers, 1988–96
• THE WINTER'S TALE and MACBETH at California Shakespeare Festival
• Designs for Gus Solomons, Company Dance, Jennifer Muller/The Works

Poetry: Art with Words

Suzanne's poetry has been supported by groups like the Cave Canem Foundation. Her published artist books, "Animal" and "What I Love," feature both her poetry and paintings. Her poems and drawings are also included in several poetry collections. Sometimes, the statements she writes about her visual artworks are even written as poems!

Gallery 32: A Special Art Space

Many people know Suzanne Jackson because of Gallery 32. This art gallery was located in MacArthur Park, Los Angeles. Suzanne ran it from 1968 to 1970. She wanted it to be a place where artists could support each other.

Gallery 32 was inspired by artist Charles White. He believed that art could be a powerful way to help the community and bring about social change. Suzanne wanted to create a place like the artistic communities she had known in San Francisco. Gallery 32 was less about making money and more about sharing ideas and beliefs. Suzanne paid for the gallery herself, mostly with money she earned from teaching.

The gallery quickly became an important place. It hosted discussions, poetry readings, and fundraisers for important social causes. It also showed art that had strong political and community messages. Suzanne wanted to make art by black artists, with black themes, available to everyone in the community. It became one of the few art spaces in Los Angeles to show new African American artists like David Hammons and Betye Saar.

Gallery 32 hosted fundraisers for groups like the Black Panther Party. One very important show at the gallery was the 1970 Sapphire Show. This was the first time a large group of African American women artists had their work shown together in Los Angeles. Gallery 32 played a key role in the important social changes of that time. It also added to the diverse art scene in Los Angeles.

Suzanne's Teaching Roles

Suzanne Jackson has shared her knowledge and passion for art through teaching at many places:

• 2014–2016: Adjunct Professor of Foundation Studies, Drawing, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia
• 2013–2014: Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts, African American Art History, Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia
• 2009–2013: Adjunct Professor of Painting (online), Graduate Studies, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia
• 1996–2009: Professor of Painting, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia
• 1994–1996: Set designer and assistant professor, St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, Maryland
• 1982–1985: Head of the Fine and Performing Arts Department, the Elliott‑Pope Preparatory School, Idyllwild, California
• 1972: Dance and crafts instructor, Watts Tower Art Center, Watts, California

Exhibitions: Where Her Art Has Been Shown

Here is a list of some important exhibitions where Suzanne Jackson's art has been displayed: