Susan Schiesser: Remembering an Iconic Steamboat Springs Artist
Fearless. Vibrant. Unpredictable. Amusing. Colorful. The adjectives people use to describe Susan Schiesser are telling: the artist could not be summarized in simple terms. Following her death from cancer last October in Kauai, Hawaii, the Steamboat Springs art community was devastated.
Schiesser's entrée into the local art scene came in 1999 through the Steamboat Springs Art Council’s Small Works Gallery. She went onto run three local galleries, mentor and help several up-and-coming artists and win the Mango Princess Award for "Best of Show" from the Kauai Society of Artists. Her work has been featured in galleries across the United States as well as in Switzerland and Germany.
Many things inspired Schiesser’s art, but a common theme was her love of water. One such example was the piece “Moose Drool,” which appeared on the cover of Volume 13, Edition 1 of the Yampa Valley Arts & Culture Guide. Schiesser’s graphic design background inspired this dynamic and impressionistic piece. “I wanted the moose to really stand out,” she said in an interview. “I wanted it to be bold and attention-grabbing.” Schiesser would often use vibrant color in her art, filtering real memories and events through the lens of a surrealist, dreamlike art style.
In her personal life, Schiesser was a well-known local, participating in yoga, dance, skiing and skeet shooting, as well as spending time with her dogs.
“Susan’s loss will be profoundly felt in Steamboat Springs. She not only had a generous spirit and a quirkysense of humor, but she also had enormous talent,” says Deborah Olsen, publisher of Ski Town Media, Inc.
“Over the years, she was always an eager contributor to the Yampa Valley Arts & Culture Guide. She entered almost every edition’s cover contest – she won several of them – and helped to judge the ones she didn’t enter,” Olsen says. “Her work was sometimes hard to spot because she went through so many different periods in her career. She did abstract interpretations of aerial landscapes, portraiture, abstract art, water lilies and whimsical pieces, to name a few.”
As a tribute to Schiesser, the staff of the Yampa Valley Arts & Culture Guide decided to fore go its usual juried contest and instead to feature her painting, “Not That Far,” on the cover of this edition.
Schiesser’s art represented the spirit of Northwest Colorado, and her mentorships and collaborations helped foster change and advocate for the arts in Northwest Colorado. She will be deeply missed.
Donations in Susan Schiesser’s memory can be made to the Susan Schiesser Memorial Fund, created for the purpose of funding a memorial sculpture titled “She Walks on Water” as well as contributing to other causes Schiesser supported. For more information and to donate,visit www.yvcf.org/susan-schiesser. For a limited time, Schiesser's work is availablefor purchase at the Depot Arts Center, WGallery, Pine Moon Fine Art and Gallery 89. Visit www.steamboatcreates.org/susan-schiesser-memorial-exhibit/ for more information.