Sharon E. Sutton

Sharon Egretta Sutton (born 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is visiting professor at Parsons School of Design, adjunct professor at Columbia University, and professor emerita at the University of Washington, where she served on the faculty 1998–2016. She became an architecture educator in 1975, having taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Michigan where she became the first African American woman to become a full professor in an accredited architectural degree program.[1]. Michigan’s Women’s Hall of Fame of Life Achievements.

Artist Statement:

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.