BIOGRAPHY
Cynthia Schira has been exhibiting internationally for over 40 years. Her work is represented in major public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art and the Museum Bellerive in Zurich.
She is the recipient of two NEA grants, a Tiffany Grant and an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.
In 2000 she was awarded a Gold Medal from the College of Fellows of the American Craft Council.
AWARDS / EDUCATION
- 2006 Distinguished Educator Award, James Renwick Alliance, Smithsonain.
- 2005 New York Foundation for the Arts Artist's Fellowship.
- 2000 Gold Medal, College of Fellows, American Craft Council.
- 1998 Chancellor's Club Career Teaching Award, University of Kansas.
- 1992 Kansas Governor's Art Award.
- 1991 Fellow of the College of Fellows, American Craft Council.
- 1990 Kansas Arts Commission Craftsman's Fellowship.
- 1989 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design.
- 1983 National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman's Fellowship.
- 1974 National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman's Fellowship.
- 1967 MFA, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
- 1966 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award.
- 1956-57 L'Ecole d'Art Decoratif, Aubusson, France.
- 1956 Textron Fellowship.
- 1956 BFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY (Books/Folios)
2004 Intersecting Traditions: Recent Textiles by Cynthia Schira, University of Nebraska Press.
2003 Portfolio Collection: Cynthia Schira by Joan Simon, Telos Art Publishing, Winchester, UK.
2001 Interview by Margo Mensing, Laitman Documentation Project for Craft in America, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1999 Focus: Cynthia Schira by Glen R. Brown, American Craft, Aug/Sept.
1999 Cynthia Schira: Drawing on Structure by Mary Anne Jordan, Fiberarts, Vol 26 No.3 Dec.
1995 Points of View by Mark Newport, Fiberarts, Vol 22 No.3 Nov.
1992 High Tech Textilkunst by Beatrij Sterk, Deutsches Textilforum, Heft 12/4/92.
1991 New Paths: Jacquard Project, Muller Zell Co., Zell (Oberfranken), Germany.
1989 Image Into Structure by Nancy Corwin, Surface Design Journal, Vol 14 No.1 Fall.
1988 Cynthia Schira, A World of Costume and Textiles by Susan Hay, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.
1988 Evocative Landscape Weaving by Charles Talley, Artweek, Vol 19 No. 15.
1988 American Craftspeople Project: The Reminiscences of Cynthia Schira, Special Collections of the University Library, Columbia University.
1987 Design: Kunst: Handwerk, Deutsches Textilforum, Heft Dec.
1988 Cynthia Schira by Mary Duesenbury, New Art Examiner, Vol. 15 No.1 Sept.
1987 At the Loom by Lynn Bretz, University of Kansas Report, Summer.
1987 Cynthia Schira-New Work by Nancy Corwin, Spencer Museum of Art Catalogue, University of Kansas, May.
1986 For Fiber Artist Cynthia Schira Creativity Means Never Being Satisfied by Pamela Bostian, Forum: Visual Arts/Mid-America, Vol 11 No.1 Jan/Feb.
1985 Poetic Evocations-The Woven Cloth of Cynthia Schira by Betty Park, American Craft, Vol. 45 No.5, Oct.
2003 Portfolio Collection: Cynthia Schira by Joan Simon, Telos Art Publishing, Winchester, UK.
2001 Interview by Margo Mensing, Laitman Documentation Project for Craft in America, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
1999 Focus: Cynthia Schira by Glen R. Brown, American Craft, Aug/Sept.
1999 Cynthia Schira: Drawing on Structure by Mary Anne Jordan, Fiberarts, Vol 26 No.3 Dec.
1995 Points of View by Mark Newport, Fiberarts, Vol 22 No.3 Nov.
1992 High Tech Textilkunst by Beatrij Sterk, Deutsches Textilforum, Heft 12/4/92.
1991 New Paths: Jacquard Project, Muller Zell Co., Zell (Oberfranken), Germany.
1989 Image Into Structure by Nancy Corwin, Surface Design Journal, Vol 14 No.1 Fall.
1988 Cynthia Schira, A World of Costume and Textiles by Susan Hay, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.
1988 Evocative Landscape Weaving by Charles Talley, Artweek, Vol 19 No. 15.
1988 American Craftspeople Project: The Reminiscences of Cynthia Schira, Special Collections of the University Library, Columbia University.
1987 Design: Kunst: Handwerk, Deutsches Textilforum, Heft Dec.
1988 Cynthia Schira by Mary Duesenbury, New Art Examiner, Vol. 15 No.1 Sept.
1987 At the Loom by Lynn Bretz, University of Kansas Report, Summer.
1987 Cynthia Schira-New Work by Nancy Corwin, Spencer Museum of Art Catalogue, University of Kansas, May.
1986 For Fiber Artist Cynthia Schira Creativity Means Never Being Satisfied by Pamela Bostian, Forum: Visual Arts/Mid-America, Vol 11 No.1 Jan/Feb.
1985 Poetic Evocations-The Woven Cloth of Cynthia Schira by Betty Park, American Craft, Vol. 45 No.5, Oct.