THE SCULPTOR

rtistic talent was recognized very early in Shirley Moss' life. Her parents not only recognized that talent but cultivated it while she was still in elementary school. They encouraged her to enroll in a pilot program at the Cleveland Institute of Art that permitted mature talented children to participate in college level classes. Four years in this program gave her a solid foundation in various art disciplines. She subsequently received numerous scholastic awards in art and mathematics while in public school and was awarded three separate scholarships upon graduation from high school. She continued her art studies at Fenn College in Cleveland, Ohio and at Ohio University while earning a Bachelor of Science in Education.

Shirley taught briefly in Ohio after graduating from Ohio University. She relocated to California where her strong interest in mathematics led her to the aerospace industry. She spent the next five years performing thermal stress analysis on new designs of solid rocket motors. She returned to the education field to teach high school mathematics and ultimately, aeronautical engineering to high school students. She attended Sacramento State University in Sacramento, California on a National Science Foundation scholarship in mathematics and continued her education to earn a Master's in Education from United States International University of San Diego, California.

Shirley resumed her art studies shortly thereafter and focused on life sculpture and bronze casting. The early art training and her natural talent were quickly apparent in the detail and sensitivity of the work she produced. Her style of human figures and portraits was easily recognizable for its subtle, unique natural appearance. Her wide range of interests led her to study and work in several mediums and styles from bronze portrait and figurative studies to investigating sculpture methods and styles of Egyptian, Pre-Columbian American art and Southwestern American Indian clay pottery. Shirley is best known for her unique miniature bronze figures but her portraits and life size commission work are a growing part of her creative schedule.

Her professional art career began in 1996 with a commissioned life size bronze portrait that was installed in the permanent collection of the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, Illinois. She began exhibiting in significant sculpture shows in Colorado and Southern California in 1998. Her figurative work has received numerous awards in the juried shows and much acclaim in the open exhibits. Shirley's bronzes currently grace the homes of patrons in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, California and Washington. Her life size commissions are installed in the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, Illinois, Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Galleries in Illinois and Southern California currently represent her. Shirley retired from teaching in 1999 and is devoting her full time to her art.