Shannon Furst

Formally trained as an artist and art educator at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Furst earned both BFA and MA degrees. During her development at MICA, she received a prestigious award for Sculptural Studies, exploring themes of place and transformation through ceramic, wood, and fiber media.

After graduating, she pursued a career as an art educator, balancing her responsibilities as a mother with her studio practice. Currently, Furst is a full-time ceramics teacher at a high school, where she has maintained her National Board certification since 2012. Additionally, she has continued her education in ceramics by completing multiple graduate-level courses in North Carolina.

In South Florida, she established a home studio while also creating at a local studio. Her works—both functional and nonfunctional—draw inspiration from nature, personal history, a sense of place, and an impulse to abstract. The artistic process employed in her ceramics often involves stencils, screen printing, and underglaze painting, which together create imagery and surfaces that reflect her inspirations.