About Susan M. Mason

BIOGRAPHICAL AND PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT  INFORMATION

 

 

 

Susan lived and taught above the Arctic Circle for over 21 years in Inupiaq villages. She grew up in Atlantic, NC. “I feel fortunate that I spent most of my life in places where the natural world was valued and respected.  I spent lots of time walking and exploring the tundra and shores along the Bering Strait, the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean. I found many similarities between the Arctic and where I grew up. The Arctic vistas were like the vistas of Carteret County – they were open and broad with an endless sky. If you take a closer look, you will see great beauty in the details of such a landscape. I feel fortunate that God gave me the gift of “seeing” these details and the gift of making art, which enables me to share what I see and feel.  I hope that my work provides the experience of walking on a shell strewn beach, viewing a beautiful sunrise or watching our commercial fishermen as they gather their catch and taking time to see the beauty that surrounds all of us no matter where we live.“

 

 

EDUCATION/EMPLOYMENT

• Bachelor of Science in Art Education - East Carolina University
• Variety of courses in Photography, PhotoShop, Art, Drawing and Drawing Research, Education and Training, Native Sculpture – Mask Making
• Instructor of Teacher Education and Art courses for Chukchi Community College, Kotzebue, Alaska adjunct teacher and Ilisagvik College, Barrow, Alaska, adjunct teacher
• Instructor art and web design for the North Slope Borough School District via Interactive Compressed Video
• Educational Technologist, North Slope Borough School District – 1 year
• Facilitator of Technology for North Slope Borough School District–3 years
• Secondary Educator – 21 years experience in the villages of Noorvik, Kotzebue, Glennallen, Point Hope, Kaktovik, and Barrow, Alaska -  5 years in Beaufort and Hickory, North Carolina

 

EXHIBITS

• Carteret General Hospital - 2007

• Circle 10 Gallery - 2007

• Mattie King Davis Gallery - 2006

• Carteret County Library Exhibit – Beaufort 2003,2006, 2008 Bogue Banks 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

• Carolina Artist Studio Gallery – Featured Artist Exhibits – 2003, 2004

• Botanical Exhibition – La Quinta Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico 2002

• Artique Botanical Art Exhibit – Anchorage, Alaska 2002, 2003
• Sack’s – Anchorage, Alaska 2002
• Alaska House of Fine Arts – Fairbanks, Alaska
• Stephan’s Fine Arts – Anchorage, Alaska
• Alaska State Museum – Juneau, Alaska (whaling prints selected for sale at Museum)
• National Art Education Exhibit “The Electronic Gallery”
• Denali Foundation – Denali National Park, Alaska 2001

 

COMMISSIONS/COLLECTIONS

• White House Christmas Tree National Park Ornament (National Archives) – Cape Lookout National Seashore - 2007

• Hospice Festival of Trees Poster - 2006

• Alaska Native Heritage Museum  - Botanical Photography Series, (Donation – 2005)
• Botanical Photography Series – YMCA – Thomasville, NC 2004

• % For Art – Noorvik Aqqulak School, Noorvik, Alaska – Northwest Borough School District 2002
• A Teacher’s Guide to Videoconferencing - Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2002
• Chuckchi Technical Institute, Catalog Cover – Kotzebue, Alaska
• Illustrator – The Little Turkle   (Children’s book about loggerhead turtles)
• Illustrator – Inupiaq Language Books – Northwest Arctic Borough School District
• Illustrator – The Owl and the Red Fox and Similes for Mother, North Slope Borough School District

 

AWARDS

• Seafood Festival Poster Artist - 2008

• Bank of the Arts – Merit Award for drawing, “Swept Away” 2007
• Best of US  - 2007 Juried Book Series – Photography

• (2) First Place, (1) Third Place – “Rose Show” New Bern Rose Society 2006

• “Best of North Carolina Artists 2005 Juried Book Series” – Honorable Mention - Photography

• Third Place –  Mixed, Third Place – Watercolor, Beaufort County Arts Council, 2005

• Third Place – Drawing/Pastel – Art for the Heart 2005

• First Place – Alaska Life Category – Alaska Magazine Photography Contest 2004
• Third Place – Mixed Media – Art for the Heart 2004
• Honorable Mention – Photography – Art for the Heart 2003
• Finalist – International GalleryPrint Botanical Photography Awards 2002
• Logo Design – Inupiaq Museum of History and Culture – (one of two selected) Barrow, Alaska 2002
• Beringia Grant Award – National Park Service and NWASD -  2001 (Arctic Observations – Student Journaling Project and Web site)
• Kennedy Center Award – National Technology/Art Award – Hunters of the Arctic Sun - play written and preformed by students using Compressed Video System North Slope Borough School District -Facilitator of Technology)
• Commendation Award – Compressed Video Art Course NSBSD – “Learning to See” art course
• Nomination  - Secondary Art Teacher of the Year – Alaska
• Alaskan Artists Calendar - First National Bank of Alaska

 

 

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

• Mattie King Davis, Handscapes, Of Earth and Sea – Beaufort, NC
• Carolina Artist Studio Gallery – Morehead City, NC
• Bank of the Arts – New Bern, NC