Artist Profile - Suanne Goings

- by Katie Thomas

After spending 11 years as an accounting/marketing analyst, Suanne Goings thought she would die of boredom.

That's when she made a major life change—to follow her heart and pursue her passion: art. After preparing herself financially and networking, she took a leap of faith from the corporate world to fulfill her dream of becoming an artist and working with children through art.

And it has been more than successful.

Suanne, a painter and mural artist, works with ArtSafe’s community and institutional programs. Our corrections programs allow her to use her gifts to help men and women, ages 12-21, in the adult and juvenile systems. Creating art helps youth to heal and express to others how to avoid the tragic choices that brought them to be incarcerated. Her work with has contributed to two ArtSafe publications: Inside Looking Out from the Madison Correctional Institution and A Caged Bird from Ohio Reformatory for Women.

What is Suanne trying to accomplish with her work? “I am helping to give a voice to those who feel no one is listening,” she said.

Suanne uses art as a tool for healing, too. Suanne's daughter died in an automobile accident on January 31, 2002. She is using this tragedy to write an interactive guide to an artist's journey through the loss of a child. “Art helps in the process of healing, regardless of what we are grieving: loss of a child, your youth in prison, home, job or spouse,” she said.

In addition to her work with ArtSafe, Suanne has facilitated the collaboration of more than 15 murals in central and Appalachian Ohio. She has held residencies with the Columbus Museum of Art, Wexner Center for the Arts and Columbus City Schools, as well as given years of service to the Children of the Future program of the Greater Columbus Arts Council.

”“The arts are an integral part of who we are,” she said. “This is not just a job for me“—it's my life's work.”

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Director's Corner |Success Story: Heidi McLean
Artist Profile: Suanne Goings | Project Profile : Landscapes from the Mind's Eye
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