Sue Taylor

Sue Taylor grew up near Chicago, where her father worked as a linotype operator and her mother as a secretary at a suburban newspaper. She and her brother attended Catholic schools, state and private scholarships covered her first year in college, and she traveled to Dijon, France for her sophomore year abroad. She completed her undergraduate education ten years later, having worked as a keypunch operator and secretary while attending classes part-time following the birth of her son in 1970. Accepted into the graduate program in art history at the University of Chicago, Taylor earned her masters degree in 1981 and made sporadic progress toward a PhD while working as a typist, freelance editor, gallery assistant, art critic, adjunct professor, and, finally, museum curator. After her son completed college, she was able to undertake a dissertation, supported by a fellowship from the American Association of University Women. She received her doctorate and joined the faculty at Portland State University in 1997.

Through her teaching and writing, Taylor aims to extend the understanding and appreciation of modern art to wide audiences and to advance opportunities for practicing artists.