About the artist:

I am an artist, architect, educator, and former musician. My fine art is in the Library of Congress and has been exhibited in and collected by galleries and museums, business enterprises, and colleges and universities throughout the United States. I previously practiced architecture in New York City and, as a freelance orchestral musician, performed in Radio City Music Hall, for the Bolshoi and other ballet companies, and in such Broadway musical hits as Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I hold five academic degrees—in music, architecture, philosophy, and psychology—and have studied in art studios internationally (etching in Florence, Italy and New York City; papermaking in Barcelona, Spain; drawing in Mexico City; collagraph and photolithography in Seattle). However my most life-changing schooling occurred in New York City during the Civil Rights and subsequent Women's Movements, when I exhibited my works on paper at galleries and museums that were promoting the inclusion of black and women artists in the art scene, while also associating with a handful of black and women architects who were likewise seeking admission to the architecture community. The lessons learned from banding together with these soul mates to scale the walls of exclusion are the ones that inspire the commitment to excellence that underpins my work. Today, I am a professor of architecture and urban design at the University of Washington, and I have also been on the faculties of Pratt Institute, Columbia University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Michigan where I became the first black woman in the nation to be promoted to full professor of architecture. I am grateful to have received many awards, among them induction into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, the American Institute of Architects Whitney M. Young, Jr. award, and most recently the American Institute of Architects Seattle Chapter Medal of Honor. Honors and Awards 2014: American Institute of Architects, Seattle Chapter, Medal of Honor 2011: American Institute of Architects, Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award 2005: American Institute of Architects, Seattle Chapter, Community Service Award 1999: Jeannette and David McKinley Fellowship, Faculty Research Support 1997: Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, Life Recognition Award 1996: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Distinguished Professor Award 1995: American Institute of Architects, Elevation to Fellowship 1992: University of Michigan, Regents Award for Distinguished Public Service 1991: American Planning Association, Education Award for Teaching the Public about Planning 1989: UM School of Business Administration, First Round Award, National Zell Lurie Fellowship 1986-1989: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Group VII National Fellowship 1983: National Endowment for the Arts, Design Research Recognition Award Fine Art One-Person Shows 2016: Gould Gallery at the University of Washington, "Sharon Egretta Sutton Retrospective" 2015: Ethnic Heritage Gallery in Seattle, "City Life On and Off the Grid" 2011: Sev Shoon Arts Center in Seattle, "Her Seventieth Year: Works on Paper" 1992: Ann Arbor Public Library in Michigan, "Mixed-Media Constructions" 1987: June Kelly Gallery in New York City, "Sharon E. Sutton: Inner Harmonies" 1986: Your Heritage House in Detroit, Michigan, "Sharon E. Sutton: Compositions" 1980: Gallery 62 in New York City, "Sharon E. Sutton: Works on Paper" Group Shows (Partial List) 2013: UW Department of Architecture in Seattle, "Faculty Exhibit" 2011: Ballard Works in Seattle, "Tenants and Friends Exhibit" 2004: Ballard Works in Seattle, "Sev Shoon Prints" 1998: Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, "Sev Shoon Prints" 1993: Steinbaum Krauss Gallery in New York City, "93 Wishes for 94" 1991: Birmingham Bloomfield Hills Art Center in Michigan, "Through the Eyes of Women" 1990: T’Marra Gallery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, "Gallery Artists" 1990: Art-in-General Gallery in Soho, "Ancestors Known and Unknown" 1989: Marygrove College in Detroit, "Urbanology: Artists Reflect on Urban Experience" 1987: The Cosby Show on WNBC-TV in New York City, Mixed-media Collage Included in Set 1985: Detroit Institute of Arts in Michigan, Founders Society 1984" National Academy of Arts and Sciences in Washington, DC, "Celebrating Contemporary American Black Artists" 1983: Fine Art Museum of Long Island in Hempstead, New York, "Celebrating Contemporary American Artists" 1979: Studio Museum in Harlem, also a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition "Impressions/Expressions: A Survey of Blacks in Printmaking from the 18th Century" Collections (Partial List) Corporate Collection of AT&T in New York City Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland Black Entertainment Television, Inc. in Washington, DC College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia Dean, Wittier, Reynolds, Inc. In New York City Gallery 400 in Pennfield, New York International Business Machine in New York City Library of Congress, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Collection London Arts in Detroit, Michigan Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts Miami-Dade Public Library System in Miami, Florida Millersville State College in Millersville, Pennsylvania Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina Muscabelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary New York State Facilities Development Corporation in New York City North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina Orleans Parish School Board in New Orleans, Louisiana Plaza of the Americas in Dallas, Texas Recording Company of America in New York City Rutgers University Art Gallery in Newark, New Jersey Sangamo Weston, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan-Dearborn in Dearborn, Michigan University of Texas Health Science Center at Austin Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut