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BIO
Sue Graef (b. 1957, Philadelphia, PA) is a figurative landscape artist who creates vibrant and imaginative work. Graef was educated at Philadelphia College of Art, Tyler School of Art and Clemson University. The artist has participated in exhibitions at the Chihuly Collection Museum, St. Petersburg, FL; Imagine Museum St. Petersburg, FL; IDEA Museum, Mesa, AZ; District Arts Gallery, Frederick, MD; Art Miami Context, Miami, FL; The Palm Beach Show, FL; Twisted Track Gallery, Sacramento, CA; Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, FL; Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY; Affordable Art Fair, Austin, TX; Art Wynwood Miami, FL and the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, NY.

In 2025, Graef had her second solo exhibition, Urban Visions, at The Artspace Gallery in the College of Southern Nevada. This opened with a talk to art students. Graef currently lives and works in Florida.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I create vibrant figurative landscape paintings in acrylic on stretched canvas. Intense, bold and saturated color with dramatic compositions and playfully distorted perspectives make up my work. The patterns, shapes and color are an invitation to travel around the canvas and step into the image.

Painting is an escape from the real world into my own world of imagined urban, suburban and rural scenes. The idea is to make the places, people and things I paint somewhat recognizable, so the looker can relate but to step outside reality into an unusual and extraordinary image. I have an insatiable urge to communicate these images to others and so I continue.

CV
Sue Graef
b. 1957, Philadelphia, PA
Lives and works in Clearwater, FL

EDUCATION
1979-1983 B.S., General Studies, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
1975-1978 Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
1974-1975 Studio Classes, Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA

SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025 Urban Paradise, Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa, FL
2025 Urban Visions, The Artspace Gallery, College of Southern Nevada, North Las Vegas, NV
2024 Paradise City, Chihuly Collection Museum, St. Petersburg, FL
2024 Planes, Trains, Automobiles and High Desert Hi-Jinks, Twisted Track Gallery, Sacramento, CA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 
2026 Futurology, Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin, FL
2026 AllArt: Grand Rapids, AllArtWorks, Grand Rapids, MI
2024 Graphic Worlds, Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, FL 
2024 The Harding Art Show, Harding Academy, Nashville, TN
2023 Artclectic, University School of Nashville, Nashville, TN
2023 Big Works, Five Deuces Galleria, St. Petersburg, FL
2023 National Painting Exhibition, Gallery of Art and Design, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
2023 37th Annual All Florida Exhibition, Alliance for the Arts, Fort Myers, FL
2022 Spring Fling, District Arts Gallery, Frederick, MD
2020 It’s a Florida Thing, Out of Our Hands Gallery, Dade City, FL
1984 Annual Juried Exhibit, Summit Art Center (now known as the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey), Summit, NJ

FESTIVALS and FAIRS
2026 Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY (represented by Steidel Contemporary)
2026 Affordable Art Fair, Austin, TX (represented by Steidel Contemporary)
2025 Art Miami Context, Miami, FL (represented by Steidel Contemporary)
2025 Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY (represented by Steidel Contemporary)
2025 The Palm Beach Show, Palm Beach, FL (represented by Steidel Contemporary)
2024 Art Wynwood, Miami, FL (represented by Steidel Contemporary)
2023 Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, FL
2019 Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, FL
2018 Coconut Point Art Festival, Estero, FL

COLLECTIONS
Rosewood Residences at Lido Key, Sarasota, FL
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tampa, FL
Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Haegeumgang Museum, South Korea
Private collections throughout United States and Europe.

GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Steidel Contemporary, Lake Worth Beach, FL
AllArtWorks, Grand Rapids, MI