Susan Wilczak has a passion for placing art in public spaces. She’s been a public art consultant for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Lakeland Health, the Inn at Harbor Shores, and Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment, to name a few.
Susan, who teaches art history classes as a full-time faculty member at Lake Michigan College, is taking on another public art project – the college’s permanent collection. As part of LMC’s Arts Initiative, she is assessing and cataloging artwork owned by LMC.
“We have nearly 1,500 works of art at all three LMC campuses,” Susan said. “Some pieces have been moved or put in storage during recent renovations, and there are many pieces that I would like to have on public display.”
Through the Arts Initiative, Susan is leading distribution and redistribution efforts to place many of these works throughout LMC and is drafting a public art master plan for the college.
“I love connecting students to the fine arts, making them part of their everyday lives,” Susan said. “That’s one of the great things about public art. It’s accessible to everyone. It’s free. It’s not in a formal setting. You can engage with it in your own time, in your own space, and at your own comfort level.”
Susan earned a bachelor’s degree in French and Anthropology from Central Michigan University and the Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi and a master’s degree in art history from Michigan State. In addition to LMC, she has taught at the Flint Institute of Arts, Western Michigan University, Hope College, and Aquinas College.
She was Director of Exhibitions & Collections at the Krasl Art Center from 1992-2007, and has developed an expertise in Caribbean art. Her book “Three Caribbean Artists,” which profiles Curaçao artists Jose-Maria Capricorne, Nelson Carrilho, and Philippe Zanolino, was published in 2020.
“I’m not a fine artist at all. I am more of a historian and curator,” Susan said. “I tell my students all the time that you don’t have to know how to paint or draw or make a sculpture to have a career in the arts.”
