photo by Andre Chung for the Baltimore Sun
Suzannah Gerber started performing at a young age , studying dance, and classical Shakesperean acting in her native Washington DC. She attended French Woods Festival in Hancock NY, where she developed an interest in silk screening while continuing to perform and explore alternatives such as aerial/circus performance and mime.
Suzannah made the transition to backstage, at Georgetown Day School where she did make Up, costumes, production, props and sound, respectively. Although continuing to perform, her focus was on costume and design, later attending Cavendish College, University of London in 1999 for Fashion and Design.
After graduating from GDHS, Suzannah took time off to work in professional theatre in Washington DC and then in Pittsburgh PA before matriculating to the University of Pittsburgh. There she studied social and evolutionary psychology and neuroscience at one of the country’s best medical schools. Although not ultimately the academic environment where she would remain, her focus in human sexual evolution and cognitive perception are central to her work as an artist and curator to this day.
In January of 2006, Suzannah Gerber started her studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art, in the Interdisciplinary Sculpture department, but soon changed to the Fibers department, favouring an open format and technique-based approach. Suzannah graduated from MICA in 2008, with high honours, with an BFA in Fibers and a concentration in Curatorial Studies.
Suzannah Gerber is completing her Masters in Museum Studies at New York University in the Summer of 2011, with a thesis that examines the representation of sexual identity in museums, using the case-study of Hide/Seek at the National Portrait Gallery.
During her time in Pittsburgh, Suzannah was the manager and assistant curator of a multi-purpose visual and performing arts space called The Eye/Thee I, and exhibited widely herself as an artist and performer.
During her time in Baltimore, Suzannah participated in many exhibits as an artist in addition to being the founding curator of the now defunct Lo-Fi Social Club. In 2007, Suzannah was hired as the Curator and Events and Exhibitions Coordinator for LoF Galerie, and in just one year brought many national and international artists and performers to a previously struggling pre-gentrification corridor of Baltimore. Most notably, founding the widely successful Baltimore Erotic Arts Festival, which was awarded a Community Service Grant from MICA, an artist group grant from the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, and made Suzannah the recipient of the Annie Sprinkle Aprhodite Award.
During her time in New York, Suzannah curated a semi-permanent exhibition for the Jewish Daily Forward, honoring the 100th Anniversary of the founder, Ab Cahan. She also gained experience working as a gallery assistant for The Flag Art Foundation, the non-profit arts organization founded by Glenn Fuhrman, and at the Brooklyn Museum promoting an Independent Film Series at the museum in collaboration with PBS’s POV.
