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Susannah Israel (born 1954, in New York City) is an American contemporary artist, writer and composer living in east Oakland, California. She moved to the Bay Area as a young parent in 1976. Her recognizable figures are highly expressive, and serve as visual extensions of her critical and allegorical narratives. Israel has published writing from 2000–present and musical compositions since 2013.

Personal life

Israel and her husband, scientist and composer Ted King (Philadelphia, PA 1945-2001) met in the mid 70's, in San Francisco where they lived with their two daughters in the Mission district, Noe Valley, and the heart of their community, The Castro. In 1996 they moved across the Bay to The Vulcan Foundry Studios, a labyrinthine warehouse complex in Oakland, California. In 2001, Israel suffered two personal tragedies as first her mother, and then her husband died from cancer. Israel took a step back from making art during this time, but eventually returned with sculptures that are deeply reflective, and even richer with layered narrative.

Israel met her partner Bill Lassell (1965-2009, Lafayette, CA) through The Vulcan community, where they organized art, writing and community events together before falling in love and beginning a long creative partnership. Lassell was a documentary filmmaker, filming at Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Montana, Boise State in Idaho, College of Marin, Mendocino College, Sonoma Art Center, Richmond Art Center and many more, as the couple traveled the invitational lecture circuit.

For Israel, Bill Lassell's sudden, unexpected death, though peaceful, was a devastating blow. Through grief and recovery, she was sustained by attending music rehearsal in the warehouse, and in 2011 she began playing and composing on keyboards.

Education

Israel graduated from a high school in the small village of Wappingers Falls, New York, where she was awarded the Regents Honors Scholarship to Pratt Art Institute in New York City in 1972. In 1980, the artist completed the paramedic/EMT program at San Francisco General Hospital, and became one of the first three women paramedics in the City and County of San Francisco. A few years later, from 1983 to 1987, Israel attended San Francisco State University earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art & Chemistry, and then returned in 1997 to acquire her Master of Fine Arts degree in 2000. While there, she studied with (among others) Stephen de Staebler, Joe Hawley, Candace Crockett, Paul Pratchenko, David Kuraoka, Paula Levine and Kathleen Hanna.

Teaching career

In the early 1970s, Israel began teaching art and ceramics. She created a ceramic arts program at the Cleveland Friends School, in Cleveland, Ohio, and taught there from 1973 to 1974 (nc). After moving to San Francisco in 1976, she worked with the Rainbow Collective Childcare Group, teaching art to children at Honey Sandwich (nc).

In Fall 2000, Israel served as a one-term, full-time Sculpture and Ceramics teacher at California State University, Bakersfield. From 2002- 2018, she taught Ceramics and Sculpture at Laney College, where she also served as Art Department co-Chair; Israel taught Art History and Ceramic Sculpture at Merritt College from 2003 to 2018. Israel received a Distinguished faculty Service Award for her teaching as an adjunct Professor of Art at the Contra Costa Colleges from 2002 to 2006.

Fellowships, residencies, and collectives

After graduating from San Francisco State University, Israel joined the Ruby's Clay Studio Collective in San Francisco from 1987–90. In 1990 she was accepted as artist in residence at the Doelger Art Center in Daly City from 1990 to 1995, where she had an 1800 ft. studio, allowing her to push the direction and possibilities for her clay sculpture. The artist received critical attention and support in awards, grants, and exhibitions from, among others: the 2023 Adolph and Ester Gottlieb Foundation grant, the Virginia Groot Foundation Award, 1989; an exhibition with the Korean Embassy Art Program in Los Angeles, 1996 (nc); the 7th Sculptor On Campus (residency), CSU Bakersfield, 1994, and Resident Artist at Serramonte Del Rey High School,. Israel is the only artist from the US to receive the prestigious International Fletcher Challenge Premier Award. Her winning entry, Lobo California, is in the collection of the Auckland Museum, New Zealand. (Auckland Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, New Zealand). https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/crafting-aotearoa/the-fletcher-challenge-ceramic-awards

Collections

Public and sited work

American Museum of Ceramic Art
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts
Auckland War Memorial Museum
California State University at Bakersfield
Douglas, Mary F, editor. Allan Chasanoff Ceramic Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina. Catalog for the American Ceramics Collection at the Mint Museum ed., Mint Museum of Craft & Design, 2000.
Gladding McBean
Madison Public Library, Wisconsin
The Mint Museum of Craft & Design,
Mission Clay Products, Corona, California, Phoenix, Arizona and Pittsburg, Kansas
City of Moraga Art In Public Spaces. Moraga California
Ocotillo School in Tucson, Arizona (nc)
Orinda Public Art Program, Orinda Library, California
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo Texas
The Sculptor's Dominion, San Antonio, Texas

References

Israel, Susannah. Sustaining the Creative Spirit. vol. 39, 2010.
Levin, Elaine, The Art of Making Art, "Vision," AJU Journal V. 9 Winter 2010, pp 7–9
Reid, Giles. 1997 Fletcher Challenge Award. vol. 45, American Ceramic Society, Columbus, 1997.
Rich, Chris, and Val M. Cushing. The Ceramic Design Book: a Gallery of Contemporary Work. Asheville, NC: Lark Books, 1998.