Short Biography
Susan Felter grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, receiving a BA in Psychology and Art from UC Berkeley, and an MFA in Motion Pictures from UCLA. Her film "Pescados Vivos" won awards in short-film festivals in the 1970s. In 1980 she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for her photo project “Rodeo Work.” After her next series, “Circus Work”, she became interested in digital techniques. Her current project is the digital montage series "Hunting and Gathering." Susan’s photographic art has been exhibited and published in the U.S. and abroad. She taught Photography at Santa Clara University from 1983 to 2010.
Awards
1987 Arthur Vining Davis Junior Faculty Fellowship, through Santa Clara University
1986 First Prize, Art From The Computer, California College of the Arts,, Oakland, CA
1981 Ferguson Grant from the Friends of Photography, Carmel and San Francisco, CA
1980 Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography
1975 Featured Photographer-Filmmaker on French National Television series Hieroglyphs
Selected Image Spreads
2009 Orion Magazine, print & online magazine: “Digital Gardens”, montages by Susan Felter
2009 Clowns and Divas, book published by George Lawson Gallery, San Francisco (circus series)
2007 Stretcher.org, on-line art magazine: "Visit with Susan Felter: Post Natural Ecology" (digital art)
1994 On Line Design, printed magazine, San Francisco, March (digital art)
1991 Computer Graphics World, printed magazine, February (digital art)
1986 American Photographer Magazine, January (circus series)
1983 San Francisco Magazine, April (circus series)
1983 Cowboy: The Enduring Myth of the Wild West, book pub. by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, N.Y
1982 ZOOM, Magazine de l'Image, Paris, Summer (rodeo series)
1980 Popular Photography Annual, New York (rodeo series)
1980 Photo Show Magazine, Los Angeles (rodeo series)
1978 Latent Image Photographic Quarterly, San Francisco (BW photos of kids)
1975 Nueva Lente Photography Magazine, Madrid (BW photos of kids)
Selected Solo Shows
2010 Gallery IV, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA. "Working With Dreams: Susan Felter 1978 - 2010" (retrospective)
2009 George Lawson Gallery, San Francisco, "Clowns & Divas" (circus series)
2007 De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA., solo shows by Santa Clara University Art Faculty (digital art)
2006 871 Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco. "Paint and Pixels" two person show (digital art)
2006 Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica Center for the Arts, Pacifica, CA "Paint and Pixels" two person show (digital art)
1997 De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA. "The Educated Eye", shows by S.C.U. Art Faculty (digital art)
1990 Galerie Viviane Esders, Paris, "American Rodeo"
1989 Monterey
Conference Center, Monterey, CA (digital art)
1987 Vision Gallery, San Francisco (digital art and circus series)
1985 San Francisco International Airport, Arts Exhibition Program, (circus series)
1985 Gallery IV, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA. (circus series)
1981 Robert Samuel Gallery, New York City, "American Rodeo"
1980 San Francisco Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco, "American Rodeo"
1975-7 U.S. Information Agencies & Cultural Centers at Embassies in Paris, Madrid, Bonn (BW photos of kids)
1974 Festival
D'Arles, Arles, France (BW photos of kids)
Selected Group Shows
2011 In India: Religare Arts, New Delhi, "American Psyche"
2009 De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara Univ., Santa Clara, CA, "Natural Blunders"
2009 Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA, "Assemblage+Collage+Construction"
2007 In Italy: Syracuse University, Florence Campus, "Santa Clara University Photo Exchange"
2004 In Germany: The Byrnes Institute German-American Center, Stuttgart, "Santa Clara University Artists"
2003 Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, "Bytes & Pieces: The Art of Contemporary Collage"
2003 In Japan: Otaru Museum of Art; Continental Gallery of Sapporo, "Pacific Rim Art Now" (digital art)
2001 Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, "Winter Work" (digital art)
2000 Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL, "Fresh Work 3" (digital art)
Selected Collections
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Houston Museum of Art
San Jose Museum of Art Bibliotheque Nacionale de France, Paris
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Academic
1991-2010 Assoc. Professor of Art, Santa Clara University
1983-1991 Assist. Professor of Art, Santa Clara University
1971 M.F.A. in Motion Pictures, U.C.L.A.
1966 B.A. in Psychology, with minors in Art and English, U.C. Berkeley