Artist Susan Dodge BIO

Educated during the vibrant and dynamic height of the Boston Punk Music and Art scene of the 80’s, Susan Dodge graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art & Design. Born and raised in Marblehead, her family’s history in the town goes back for generations. The years at Mass Art in Bostonand the connections made helped her develop her creative language. After graduation from Mass Art, Susan moved to Key Largo, the beauty of the tropical Florida Keyes holds a special place for her. Susan returned to Massachusetts in1992 to be closer to family and raise her daughter, Nadine. She began her career in production pottery at State Street Gallery in downtown Marblehead. Being a part of a vibrant artist community

and having her first studio in her hometown was a dream and a joy. Later Susan started her own business called The Artful Dodger, a custom design company that created murals, tiles and pottery with her own signature line and was sold in galleries across the

USA and in the Virgin Islands from 1995-2002.

Today Susan explores the elements of water with her large-scale paintings of the ocean, bathers, swimmers and fish. Susan completed 55 paintings for the new art installations

at The Breakers Hotel, in Palm Beach, Florida renovation project in the fall of 2016.

Other recent projects include a painting used for the 2016 the Berkshire Opera Festival,

in western Mass, commissioned paintings for celebrity Chef Thomas Keller, and other

private collections. Susan was chosen to be a muralist as a part of El Punto mural

project in downtown Salem in the fall of 2018,

Susan Dodge is the Director of ArcWorks Community Art Center a program of Northeast Arc in

downtown Peabody. Susan curates gallery exhibits at ArcWorks Gallery and at Breaking

Grounds Café on Main Street. Susan also coordinates and teaches the Discover &

Design art program for adults with disabilities. Discover & Design participants build their

art skills, learn new techniques and explore different mediums, such as performing arts,

dance and African drumming. When Susan isn’t outside painting the coast of the north

shore, she is enjoying time with her family and friends, dancing to live music, and

teaching art to kids in the hills of Jamaica, as an art leader of Great Shapes Jamaica Inc.

“My work as an artist has been a lifelong journey. My obsession with the ocean and the

swimmers who venture within continues. The Line between, the Land and Sea, the

coast, and what lies beneath the ocean and the rivers possess and inspire me. "