Featured Artist : Maura Schaffer

Maura is an artist whose love of art was instilled in her at a young age by her grandmothers, and she has been sketching, painting, working with clay, and creating sculptures ever since.  Her sculptural work focuses on the dinner table as well as other furniture as a means of expressing ideas about human relationships. She is also working on developing sculptural relief works for architectural spaces that will be presented both on the interior and exterior of the structure.

Maura received a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Southern Illinois University- Carbondale and began her professional career as an Interior Designer working in architecture firms in Chicago and St. Louis.  She began the transition to a career as an artist at Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics with a minor in weaving. She completed her Master of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University where she began working with sculpture and installation. She has taught at Purdue University, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College, as well as at community art centers since 1998. While teaching she has remained active as an artist and participates in numerous national and international shows where she exhibits her sculpture and installations.