SUSAN WAGNER
A native New Yorker, Susan began art studies at age eleven at the Art Students League in Manhattan. She continued studying figure drawing and composition throughout her teenage years, later earning a degree in painting and art history form Cornell University.
After moving to California she became a partner in Wagner Construction, spending ten years designing homes and acquiring hands-on experience in the building trades. In 1983 she opening her Santa Cruz art studio and began focusing on architectural art glass.
Susan enjoys the process of bringing her clients’ dreams and visions into reality. Her design approach is deeply collaborative, the result of extensive dialogue with her clients and a skilled appreciation of the architectural space itself. She personally guides a project from conception, through design and fabrication, to final installation, a breadth of scope earned by her in-depth artistic background and earlier architectural and contractors’ experience.
Today Susan’s work spans forty years of diverse experience in design, fabrication and construction. Her compelling work is found in a wide variety of living and working spaces - in homes, churches, businesses, schools, historic buildings and public spaces. Susan strives to find and reveal the synergy of imagination, practicality, beauty and meaning. Her work is a marvelous add-on to any space, enabling light, color and texture to capture imagination and attention.
EDUCATION
Cornell University, College of Art, Architecture and Planning
Centre Internationale de Vitrail, Chartres, France
Albinas Elskus master glass painting workshops, Oakland, California
Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting, London, England
Art Students League, New York City, New York
PUBLICATIONS
Susan Wagner: Art Glass for Sacred Spaces, September, 2023
Santa Cruz Sentinel: "Splendor in the Glass", January 7, 2014
Santa Cruz Sentinel: “People” Section, March 24, 2011
ed+c magazine: The 10th annual LEED Guide, July, 2010
California Home + Design Magazine: New Product Award, March, 2008
Ministry and Liturgy: Bene Award, November, 2007
St. Anthony Messenger: illustrations for St. Clare article, August, 2003
Ministry and Liturgy, Cover Illustration, March, 2002
Glass Craftsman: illustration of Holy Cross Doors, August, 1996
San Jose Mercury News, December 24 and 25th, 1993
Tracy Press: “Living” Section, July, 1989
Province Magazine: Cover illustration, June, 1989