Suzanne Stryk

2024

On October 11th at 6:30 PM, Suzanne will be the featured speaker at the Steele Creek Park’s Wildlife Weekend (Bristol, TN). Her talk is titled “Taking the Pulse of Place: Connecting to the Natural World Through the Arts.” On October 12th she’ll be leading a drawing/journaling session from 1-3. Concurrent to these events, Suzanne’s artwork will be displayed in the Lakeshore Gallery at the park’s nature center from October 1 — December 31    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGdtCY2TBQQ

Check out “Sky Sketches” on the Center for Humans and Nature’s website: https://humansandnature.org/sky-sketches   Suzanne compares her low-tech sketches of a solar eclipse with the phenomenal James Webb Space Telescope pictures and comes out even.

Suzanne’s new project, “Natural Domain: Exploring the Southern Highlands,” is a series of assemblages about the nature and culture of the Southwest Virginia/Northeast Tennessee region. Each site-specific piece combines drawings & paintings, topographical maps, and natural specimens. During open studios (located at the William King Museum of Art, Abingdon, Virginia), the artist shares the process and progress of this work.

OPEN STUDIO: Thursday, February 8th, from 6-7 p.m. Sponsored by the Nature Conservancy. Public invited.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nature-artist-suzanne-stryk-studio-tour-tickets-796142994127?aff=oddtdtcreator

Suzanne will be the featured speaker at the Blue Ridge Discovery Center’s Winter Naturalists Rally on February 17th, 9-9:45 a.m. Her topic will be “Taking the Pulse of Place: Connecting to the Natural World through the Arts.”   Register here for this talk and a full day of field trips in the wintery mountain landscape: https://blueridgediscoverycenter.org/mount-rogers-winter-naturalist-rally-2024

2023

Thursday, November 2, from 6:00-7:30 PM: Suzanne talks about The Middle of Somewhere: An Artist Explores the Nature of Virginia at The Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA, part of the Carole Weinstein Author Series.   Free/Registration requested: https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/10552661 

Here’s a Style Weekly (Richmond, Virginia) article promoting the Weinstein Author Series, and one of the finest descriptions of The Middle of Somewhere: https://www.styleweekly.com/attention-to-detail/

Open studio: October 26 at 6:00 PM, William King Art Museum, Abingdon, VA                                                  Visits may also be arranged by appointment. Contact Laura Harris at lharris@wkmuseum.org or (276) 628-5005 ext. 115Studio, William King Museum

Virginia Festival of the Book  March 2023 / Suzanne in conversation with fellow author Arwen Donahue and moderator Sue Erhardt at the Ivy Creek Natural Area in Charlottesville. A beautiful day to share thoughts about writing, art, and the natural world.

Events Schedule for The Middle of Somewhere: An Artist Explores the Nature of Virginia

March 26 at 11:00 AM: panel discussion at the Virginia Festival of the Book, Charlottesville, VA, with Arwen Donahue

May 21 at 3:00 PM: Reading and book signing, “Sunday with Friends” series, Washington County Library, Abingdon, VA

June 23 at 10:00 AM: Reading and book signing at the Chautauqua Arts Festival, Wytheville, Virginia.

2022

The Middle of Somewhere: An Artist Explores the Nature of Virginia is available from independent and online bookstores. For more about the book, visit Trinity University Press tupress.org/9781595349613/the-middle-of-somewhere/

The Middle of Somewhere featured at the AWP conference:

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS 

November 2022, Terrain.org, the journal of place-based literature, featured the chapter “The Green Fuse”:  https://www.terrain.org/2022/nonfiction/the-green-fuse/

“Fertile Ground for Art: Suzanne Stryk’s The Middle of Somewhere travels outward and inward,” by Linda Parsons for Chapter 16, the journal of Humanities Tennessee. https://chapter16.org/fertile-ground-for-art/

“Big Little Lives” — Interview with Suzanne Stryk by Harry Kollatz Jr., Richmond Magazine, March 2022

2022 EVENTS SCHEDULE 

Sunday, March 6 at 1:00 PM: Reading and Booksigning at the Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

Friday, March 25 at 11:00 AM: Booksigning at the Trinity University Press table, Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, Philadelphia, PA

Friday, March 25 at 1:45 PM: “Women Exploring Wild Spaces” panel discussion, Bookfair Stage, Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, Philadelphia, PA

Tuesday, March 29 at 7:00 PM Eastern Time: “Suzanne Stryk in Conversation with Jim Minick,” Sponsored by Trinity University Press / a recording of the event here:
https://www.facebook.com/trinityuniversitypress/videos/991489471757306

Thursday, March 31 at 7:00 PM: Reading and Booksigning, The Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Sponsored by the AAME, Bristol, VA

Saturday, April 9, 10:00 — 4:00, Book signing, Highlands Writers Fair, Abingdon, VA, Library

Thursday, April 14th at 7:00 pm, Reading & Book signing: Radford Public Library

Friday, May 6, 5-8:00 pm, Opening Reception for the exhibit “The Middle of Somewhere” [“Notes on the State of Virginia” series that the book is based upon]  Blue Spiral 1 gallery, Asheville, NC

Saturday, May 7, 5-6:00 pm, Booksigning at the Mt Rogers Spring Naturalist Rally, Blue Ridge Discovery Center, Troutdale, VA.

Friday, May 20th at 11:00 Pacific Time, presentation for the Collage Artists of America, “Making Visual and Written Assemglages.”  Online, by invitation only

Saturday, May 21 at 6:00 pm, Bristol, Virginia: AAME Arts Achievement Awards gala for 2022 recipients; Suzanne is an award winner for visual art and writing.

Friday, June 3, 6:00-7:30 PM, reading and slide show sponsored by Book No Further and Unity of Roanoke Valley, Roanoke, Virginia.

Saturday, June 4 from 1:00-3:00, book signing at The Book Dragon, Staunton, Virginia.

Sunday, June 5 from 3-5, meet and greet plus reading with slideshow, Airy Knoll, Middlebrook, Virginia. Invitation only.

Wednesday, June 15 at 5:00 pm, book signing, and 5:30 pm reading at the Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina, co-sponsored by Malaprops bookstore.

Wednesday, June 22, 7:00 PM, reading and book signing at the Floyd Center for the Arts, Floyd, Virginia.

Thursday, July 7, 1:00 PM, WEHC 90.6 Radio interview/recording:  https://player.captivate.fm/episode/89dd7e49-b1e2-455d-a9ea-98af55f5d0f7

Tuesday, July 19, 6:00 PM,  Common Ground Virginia History Virtual Book Group, Library of Virginia: discussion and Q & A

Wednesday, August 3, 7:00 PM, LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY  Reading and Q&A. Recording of the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoqA8fr20Ms&t=743s

Friday, November 4, 2:45 PM, reading at the Virginia Art Educators Association conference in Richmond, Virginia. Introduction by Margaret Hancock, Director, Virginia Commission for the Arts

Thursday, November 17, 6PM, reading and pop-up exhibit at the Renaissance Center, Kingsport, TN    For more information visit: https://www.createappalachia.org/event/suzannestryk/

The Middle of Somewhere is based on the “Notes on the State of Virginia” series. For more about that project, visit: https://suzannestryk.com/assemblages/notes-on-the-state-of-virginia/#bridge-2

E X H I B I T S

“The Middle of Somewhere,” an exhibit showing the entire “Notes on the State of Virginia” series. Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC. May-July 2022   This was the last exhibit of this body of work before it became part of the permanent collection of the University of Virginia.

2021

Exhibits

Suzanne’s series “The Beekeeper’s Dream” can be seen in the “Botanicals” group exhibit at the Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC. (November-December)

https://bluespiral1.com/exhibit/321-botanicals

The Beekeeper’s Dream [12 x 12 x 2.5 inches, mixed media, 2021]

The Beekeeper’s Dream Series statement:

I set out to imagine a honeybee’s life in paint, layering acrylic and found materials on plexiglass. But what evolved was a parallel exploration of our human worlds with that of the insect. Born of this cross-pollination was the “beekeeper” persona. And who is the beekeeper? It could be me, the maker. Or it could be you, the viewer, or an actual keeper of beehives, or an imaginary character. But any way you look at it, these works are all about bees while equally about us – our memories, dreams, gardens, our wish to map private terrain, our own dancing to find a way to the nectar.

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Suzanne’s scheduled exhibits have been postponed except for “A Critical Balance: Artists Take Action” at the Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, VT.

Suzanne’s painting “Beyond Biology (Rabbit)” is the cover image on the Southern Humanities Review [Spring 2020]:

A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia  (2019, University of Georgia Press) features twelve of Suzanne’s images:

“Contemporary Artists Interpret Stations of the Cross” at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, includes Suzanne’s painting, “Coming Up for Air (Dragonfly)”. She took a naturalistic slant [Station #3, The Fall], suggesting the bridge between the corporeal and the ethereal nature of experience.

2019

Group Exhibits

“Of Bees, Petals, & Wings: Pollinators,” Tipton Gallery, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee / May

“A Critical Balance: Artists Take Action” [In Partnership with the Biodiversity Research Institute], Lewis Gallery, Portland Public Library, Portland, Maine [catalog]

2018

Solo Exhibits

“Notes on the State of Virginia,” Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Gallery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA                                    September 4 — December 20

William King Museum of Art, Abingdon, VA    March 1 — July 15th.

catalog:

For more images, reviews, and a video of the “Notes on the State of Virginia” project, see page: http://www.suzannestryk.com/works-on-paper/notes-on-the-state-of-virginia

In June, “Painters on Painting” featured Suzanne’s homage to Maria Sibylla Merian:

https://paintersonpaintings.com/suzanne-stryk-maria-sibylla-merian/

Group Exhibits     

“Ideation, Sketchbooks,” Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg (PA)       March 23 — May 15

“On the Brink: Artists Take Action,” Central Vermont Medical Center, Montpelier (VT)   April — May

“Organic Form: Works Inspired by Nature,” Blue Spiral 1, Asheville (NC)   March 1 — April 27

“Exaltation of Larks (Putting a Bird on It),” Chroma Projects, Charlottesville (VA)    June 1- 30

“Collaborations,” Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN                                          August 4 – September 8

2017

Solo Exhibits:

“Notes on the State of Virginia,” Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA    August 19 – October 15

“Nesting Material,” Chroma Projects, Charlottesville, VA    May 5 — 27      [See article in C’ville arts magazine by Elizabeth Derby: http://www.c-ville.com/chromas-nesting-materials-elegant-science-center/#.WRhKpeHyuM9 ]

3-Person show, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC   March 9 — April 28

“Aquaterra: A Celebration of Earth Day,” 2-Person show, Capitol One Bank, Richmond, VA    March 28 — June 4

2016

The September-October Kenyon Review features Suzanne’s images (cover and portfolio) in “The Poetics of Science” issue.  Visit: http://www.kenyonreview.org/conversation/suzanne-stryk/ to read Suzanne’s conversation with KR editor Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky.

Suzanne’s series “Notes on the State of Virginia” continues to tour the state. It runs from April 1 through December 31 at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia.

In January “Notes on the State of Virginia” was reviewed in the Washington Post  and featured in the Northern Virginia arts magazine élan.  http://www.suzannestryk.com/publications/reviews/

Suzanne’s art was featured in the January issue of Escape into Life, an international website of art and culture.http://www.escapeintolife.com/artist-watch/suzanne-stryk/

2016 Group exhibits:

“A Sketch of the Universe: Art, Science and the Influence of D’Arcy Thompson,” Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland

“Unexpected Surfaces,” Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN

“In Consideration of Bees,” Chroma Projects, Charlottesville, VA, and The Danville Museum of Fine Art and History, Danville, VA

2015

Suzanne presented the keynote talk, “The Beetle and the Double Helix: Why Nature Matters in the Art Classroom,” for the Virginia Art Educators Association annual conference.

Solo Exhibits 2015:

“Notes on the State of Virginia,” Athenaeum in Alexandria, Virginia / December 15 2015 through January 31 2016.

“Shape of Flight,” Solo Exhibit, Ingram Gallery, Vanderbilt University / February 16-March 20

“Natural Order,” 4-person exhibit, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC September-November 2015

2014

Shenandoah spring issue features an interview with Suzanne: http://shenandoahliterary.org/641/2014/09/25/suzanne-stryk-artist-flight-and-life/

“Pollinator,” Blue Spiral, Asheville, NC / Suzanne included her new work on mirror in this group exhibit featuring honey bees.

Suzanne’s mirror works represented by Cumberland Gallery at the 2014 Los Angeles Art Show January 15-19.

Senator Mark Warner’s office selected Suzanne’s artwork for a year-long exhibit of Virginia artists.

2013

2012

Suzanne’s work Field Notes (Natural Domain Series) is included in the anthology Convergence: The Art Collection of the National Academy of Sciences (with 14 essays including those by NAS curator J.D. Talasek, E.O. Wilson, and Lucy Lippard).

“Nest” was the theme of Suzanne’s 2012 May Farm School painting workshop (Shenandoah Valley, VA). During the week, students painted nest imagery and collaborated on building an 8′ high nest from branches and sticks.

2011

Suzanne is the recipient of a 2011 Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in support of her series, “Notes on the State of Virginia.”

Link to A! Magazine article: Suzanne Stryk Awarded Fellowship

Launching the Imagination: A Comprehensive Guide to Basic Design (McGraw-Hill), by Mary Stewart, features an interview with Suzanne along with images by the artist.

2010

Catalogs from past exhibits: