Mary Sue Foste

Professor
Art Education & Textiles

B.S. (Art Education), MFA and M.S.Ed., University of Kansas. Professor Foster received the Western Region Art Educator of the Year, awarded at the National Art Education Association's 25th annual convention in Dallas, TX, in 1985. She has served two elected terms on the eleven-member Board of Directors of the National Art Education Association. In 1986-1988 she was the regional Vice-President of the Western Region and in 1995-97 she served as the Director of the Higher Education Division. As Vice-President, she presided at the NAEA Delegates Assembly of state association leaders during two conventions. Before being elected to the national offices she served as President of the Kansas Artist-Craftsman Association and later as the President of the Kansas Art Education Association. She has received eleven grants from agencies other than WSU to promote visual arts education in the region.

Mary Sue Foster received a 2002 Mini-Fellowship Award in the visual arts from the Kansas Arts Commission.

Artist Statement

Threads held tautly on the weaving loom allow me to pursue my interest in formal qualities. The warp threads are filled in as the weft, or filler, threads are woven from selvage in an over, under, over manner. I work from one end of a rectangle toward the other, a different approach for making art. When beginning serious study of art, I found studio experiences involving color, pattern and texture to be very absorbing. I want the relief quality to be felt physically as well as viewed. The process is fascinating as "new" colors, and therefore new patterns, move through the loom. My interest in formal qualities has continued as I enjoy using a range of weaving looms such as the simple inkle loom to looms with eight and twelve harnesses. In my home-studio, I now own an AVL sixteen harness loom controlled by a computer. Harnesses determine the complexity of the woven piece.

Office: 124 McKnight
E-mail: mary.foster@wichita.edu
Phone: 316.978.7718
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