Cathy Fussell has been a practicing fiber artist for more than 50 years. She has been sewing and working with textiles since her early childhood in Buena Vista, Georgia, her hometown. Today, she maintains a studio in Columbus, Georgia, where she specializes in making art quilts and related works in fabric. Cathy retired from Columbus State University in 2011 following a long career as an English teacher, first in the Muscogee County School District and later at CSU, where she also directed CSU’s Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians.
Examples of Cathy’s artwork have been exhibited in numerous juried and curated art exhibitions around the South and beyond, and her work is held in both public and private collections around the nation and abroad.
In 2016, Cathy was commissioned by the prestigious Congressional Club in Washington, DC, to make a special quilt for First Lady Michelle Obama. The result was “Apollo Splashdown Revisited – Homage to Alma Woodsey Thomas.” That piece was presented to Mrs. Obama by The Congressional Club at their Annual First Lady’s Luncheon in Washington, DC, during the final year of the Obama presidency. That work will be included in the collection of the (forthcoming) Barack Obama Presidential Library in Chicago.
Cathy continues to pursue a vigorous schedule of exhibitions.
CURRENTLY ON EXHIBIT:
“The Myth of the Chattahoochee Tie Snake” and “Basilica di Chattahoochee” at The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia.
“Genocide at Horseshoe Bend” in the SAQA global exhibit BEARING WITNESS, Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Raritan Valley Community College, Raritan Valley, New Jersey, August 28 - December 13, 2024.
UPCOMING:
“Genocide at Horseshoe Bend” in the SAQA global exhibit BEARING WITNESS, Mills Station Arts & Culture Center, Rancho Cordova, California from January 16th through February 22, 2025.
November 16, 2024 — Holiday Open House and Art Sale in our studios. 11:00 AM till 4:00 PM.
December 17, 2024 — Lunch & Learn presentation at The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia.
March 11, 2025 — A program about the “Tunnels Under Columbus?” quilt, at the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus, Georgia. This program will include a presentation by Dr. Bryan Banks from Columbus State University about his academic research on the question of tunnels underneath Columbus. And, of course, I’ll be talking about the inspiration behind the quilt, and its construction.
March 22, 2025 — Tie Snake Workshop at The Columbus Museum. I’ll teach participants how to make a “tie snake” from a necktie.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
* Two pieces in the Fulton County Public Arts Collection in Atlanta, Georgia
* Six pieces in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Koch Collection in New York, New York
* Two pieces in the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama
* Two pieces in the collection of The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia
EXHIBITION HISTORY:
2024 —
Two pieces curated into LaGrange Southeast Regional, a multi-media exhibit at Lamar Dodd Art Center, LaGrange, Georgia.
One piece curated into Beyond Go Figure V at the Bo Bartlett Center, Columbus, Georgia.
One piece juried into SAQA’s BEARING WITNESS global exhibit, to travel until 2027.
A one-person exhibit at Union County Historical Center, New Albany, Mississippi, July 11 - September, 2024.
2023 —
Two pieces juried into SAQA’s regional exhibition, OPENINGS, at the LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia.
A three-person multi-media exhibit at The Cochran Gallery in LaGrange, Georgia.
One piece curated into exhibit at Kentuck Art Center, Northport, Alabama.
One piece curated into exhibit titled KUDZU SOLILOQUY at the Wiregrass Museum in Dothan, Alabama.
“Southern Lit. 101” series exhibited at Southside Gallery in Oxford, Mississippi, as a component of the Oxford Conference for the Book.
Two person exhibit at the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum, Carrollton, Georgia.
Solo retrospective, featuring 34 quilts, at the Columbus Public Library, Columbus, Georgia.
“Event Horizon” curated into multi-media exhibit titled TOO MUCH IS JUST RIGHT: THE LEGACY OF PATTERN AND DECORATION at the Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, North Carolina.
Exhibit at Gumtree Museum, Tupelo, Mississippi.
One piece curated into multi-media exhibit at The Bo Bartlett Center, Columbus, Georgia.
2022 —
One piece juried into multi-media LaGrange Southeast Regional, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia.
Two-person exhibit at Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia.
Two pieces juried into multi-media BEYOND GO FIGURE at The Bo Bartlett Center, Columbus, Georgia.
One-person exhibit at Hoover Public Library, Hoover, Alabama.
Two-person exhibit at Chocolate Church Arts Center, Bath, Maine.
2021 —
Two-person multi-media exhibit at Do Good Gallery, Columbus, Georgia.
2020 —
Two pieces juried into regional SAQA exhibit, A THREAD RUNS THROUGH IT, at Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum, Carrollton, Georgia.
Two person exhibit, with Blair Hobbs, at Southside Gallery in Oxford, Mississippi.
One piece juried into multi-media LaGrange Southeast Regional, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia.
2019 —
One piece featured in High Rise Art Show, Fulton County Public Arts, Atlanta, Georgia.
2017 —
Three person multi-media exhibit at Illges Gallery, Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia.
2016 —
Two pieces curated into SouthArts exhibit at Crealde Art Center, Winter Park, Florida.
One piece juried into International Festival of Quilts, Houston, Texas.
Two-person show, with daughter Coulter Fussell, at Young Harris College, Georgia.
One piece juried into QuiltCon.
One piece juried into SAQA’s SOUTHERN ACCENTS exhibit at Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Melbourne, Florida.
Two pieces juried into Bulloch Hall Quilt Show, Roswell, Georgia.
One piece juried into QUILTING 2016 in Pasadena, California.
2015 —
“North Alabama Hillsides” juried into American Quilters Society Quilt Week exhibit in Paducah, Kentucky.
“North Alabama Hillsides” juried into QuiltCon, where it won second place in hand-quilting.
2014 —
One piece juried into American Quilters Society Quilt Week exhibit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.