about the artist
Mary Elmusa is an artist and educator from Leawood, Kansas, a suburb outside Kansas City, Missouri. Mary’s work is created from textiles to which she has applied varied surface design treatments. She uses dyeing, painting, printing (manual & digital) wax and other media to create compelling surfaces. Sewing is a crucial part of the work, as the cloth is often pieced, quilted, sewn, and stitched. Pieces are framed or hung as wall pieces. A fascination with pattern in various forms and intuitive expression of color are prominent in her highly textural works. Her work has been shown in many juried exhibitions nationally, and also in regional and local exhibitions. In 2011 she was awarded a Surface Design Association Scholar award; she is a past recipient of the state of Kansas Art Commission Fellowship Award in Craft media and was also a scholarship recipient to study shibori dyeing at the Arrowmont School of Craft in Tennessee. Mary brings a unique expression and intensity of feeling to art appreciators and collectors through the creation of her meticulously crafted textile works. Mary is also an experienced instructor who takes delight in teaching art to people of all ages.
education
B.F.A., Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting), Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri
Art Teacher Certification K-12, Student teaching supervision and education hours earned through Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri
M.Ed, Master of Education, emphasis art education (Project focus was the integration of the visual arts into core subject areas), Nazarene University, Olathe, Kansas
Additional graduate education & technology courses, Friends & Baker Universities in Overland Park, Kansas
additional fiber art educational workshops
Jan Myers-Newbury, Shibori Resist Dyeing
Jane Dunnewold, Color with Soy Wax
Michael James, Design
Joan Morris, Shibori
Jane Sassaman, Designing from Nature
Wendy Huhn, Textile Transfer Techniques
Dorothy Caldwell, Mark Making on Cloth
Rayna Gilman & Jette Clover, Monoprinting Techniques on Cloth
Barbara DePirro, Using Acrylics on Textiles
Teliha Draheim, Pattern Design
teaching
Art Teacher, Blue Valley School District, Shawnee Mission, Kansas, 1989-present
Instructor, Johnson County Community College, Continuing Education, 2003-06; Overland Park Kansas. Taught color theory and surface design (fiber & textile arts)
Instructor, High School & Middle School Summer Drawing Workshops, Kansas City Art Institute
Workshop Leader and Presenter in textile art, quilt art and fiber/surface design techniques.
recent art exhibitions
2010 What's Up: EDGE Exhibiting Members of Kansas Art Quilters Exhibit. Irene B French Art Gallery, Merriam, KS, September-October.
2010 Surfacing: Kansas SDA Member Exhibition, The Fiber Studio, Wichita, KS August-September.
2010 Human Form Exhibit, Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri, March 3-27.
2009 Artists Studios: KC, Kansas City Artists Coalition, Exhibition and Studio Tour, October 2009
2008 Kansas Art Quilters: Governor's Exhibit, Office of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Topeka, Kansas December 2007-June 2008
2008 2008 “Opposition, An Invitational Exhibit”, the Kansas City Artist Coalition Underground Gallery. October-November 2008. Kansas City, Missouri
2008 River Market Regional Exhibit, (five states) Kansas City Artist Coalition Galleries, Juror Dominic Molon, Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. July-August 2008.
2008 “Sum of the Parts” group show, Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. March 23 - June 8, 2008
2008 “Sum of the Parts” group show, J. Wayne Stark Gallery, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas. September 7-November 2, 2008
2008 “Sum of the Parts”, the Goldstein Museum of Design, University of Minnesota, St, Paul, MN. November 23, 2008 - January 18, 2009
2007 Open Studios Tour, Kansas City Artists Coalition, November.
2007 Artichokes Art Gallery, group exhibit, November-February, Leawood, Kansas.
2007 Studio Art Quilts Association “Intuition” Juror Bean Gilsdorf, selected work from SAQA professional artist members. www.saqa.com (intuition show)
2007 River Market Regional Exhibit, (five states) Kansas City Artist Coalition Galleries, Kansas City MO, July-August. Juror Elizabeth Dunbar, former curator Kemper Museum
2007 Sabatini Gallery, “Covers Blown” group show textile art, May-June, Topeka, KS.
2007 Sum of the Parts, International Surface Design Association Textile Exhibition, Jurors: Jan Myers-Newbury & Kyoung Ae Cho, June1-6, H & R Block Art Space, Kansas City MO; work was juried to be part of touring exhibit
2007 Cultures without Borders Traveling Exhibit, Juror Mary Beth Yates. Travelling exhibit to three northeast KCMO locations: Scuola Vita Nuova, United Missouri Bank, & Central Bank of Kansas City, March-May
2006 Studio Art Quilts Association “Intuition” Juror Bean Gilsdorf, selected work from SAQA professional artist members. www.saqa.com (intuition show)
2006 Wellington Gray Gallery, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, “Showcase: Surface Design”, June 5-29, international group show
2005 Art St. Louis Gallery, St. Louis, MO, “Fiber Focus 2005”, national juried group exhibit Juror, Bhakti Ziek, fiber artist. September-October
2005 Wichita Center for the Arts, “Fiber Directions, 2005”, national juried group exhibit Juror, Jason Pollen, Chair, fiber department, Kansas City Art Institute. May-June
2005 Beth Allison Gallery, “Layers” art quilt group show, Kansas City, Missouri, June, ’05
2005 Beth Allison Gallery, “Upon Reflection” art quilt group show, Kansas City, Missouri, June, 2005
2005 “30 Squares”, textile work on loan, displayed in the office of Superintendent, Blue Valley School District; 2005-present
2005 Manhattan Art Center, July 23, 2005- September 3, Manhattan, Kansas, group quilt art exhibit
2005 Lynn Foundation Gallery, International Surface Design Member Exhibit, juried by Dorothy Caldwell, Canadian fiber artist and Rebecca Stephens; June- July
2005 Irene French Gallery, Merriam, Kansas, “Midpoint” 7- State Regional Art Quilt Exhibit, June-July, My piece, “Ziggurat” was juried “Best of Show” by Wendy Lugg, Australian Fiber artist. Exhibit jurors: F. Pawlicki, curator Spencer Museum, Lawrence, Kansas and Maryann Jordan, Fibers Professor, University of Kansas
2005 Spring International Quilt Market, Special Exhibit:” A Page from My Book: Journal Quilts 2004”, Chicago, Illinois group show
2005 Spring International Quilt Market, Special Exhibits: “Upon Reflection” Self Portrait Art Quilts, Chicago, Illinois
2004 Art at the Center Gallery,” The Abstracts” group show, Overland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, Kansas
2004 Lawrence Art Center, KAQ group show of textile work, Jan. 5- Feb. 7, Lawrence, Kansas
2004 Spring International Quilt Festival 2004, March 26-28, Rosemont, Illinois, and “Layers” group show.
2004 Xavier University, August 12-14, Cincinnati, Ohio, group quilt art show
2004 "Quilts at the Crossroads 10th Annual Exhibit”, September 10-12, Flint, Michigan
2004 Spotlight Gallery, Unity Church “Cloth, Needle and Dye: Art Quilts by Mary Elmusa”, October-November, Overland Park, Kansas, solo show
2003 Watkins Museum, Kansas Art Quilters: Recent Works, Watkins Museum in Lawrence, Kansas
2003 Irene French Gallery, Merriam, Kansas “Layers” Art Quilts by Kansas Art Quilters (group) July 3- August 4, Merriam, Kansas
2003 Blue Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri, “Up Close & Far Away: A Juried International Competition of Fiber Art”, International Surface Design Association, Blue Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri. Juror: Jan Myers Newbury, quilt artist
2002 Gold Bank, “Art by Mary Elmusa and Barbara Stoll”, Leawood, Kansas. October 2000, two-person show
2002 International Quilt Market Special Exhibit, Juried by Robert Shaw, Bartle Hall, Kansas City, Missouri, May
awards & recognition
2011 Publication of "Artist Portfolio - Mary Elmusa", written by Rice Freeman-Zachery, Winter 2012 edition of Art Quilting Studio, Stampington Publications, pages 48-57
2011 International Surface Design Association Scholarship Award, Summer
2010 Publication of "Insight” in Lark Book's 500 Art Quilts
2005 Review in “Midpoint”, Studio Art Quilts Association (SAQA) Journal, Vol. 15 Summer,
2005 Review of work in “Fiber Focus” Studio Art Quilts Association (SAQA) Journal, Vol. 15, Fall, 2005
2005 Awarded “Best of Show” for “Ziggurat” in “Midpoint” a 7-state regional juried fiber exhibit, juried by artists Linda Frost and Wendy Lugg
2004 Kansas Arts Commission - Topeka, Kansas, Fellowship winner in Craft Media
2002 Arrowmont Craft School, Gatlinburg, Tennessee - Regional Scholarship winner, 2002
2000 Nomination for Blue Valley School District Master Teacher Award, January, 2000
professional memberships
Kansas City Artists Coalition
International Surface Design Association (SDA) past regional representative 5 states
National Art Education Association and Kansas Art Ed Association
Kansas Art Quilters Group
Studio Art Quilts Associates, (SAQA) Professional Artist Member
National Education Association, past representative