Sandra Luehrsen was born in Chicago, Illinois. She earned BA and MA degrees from Northern Illinois University and an MFA from Arizona State University (ASU). She left a position as assistant dean of the ASU Graduate College to start her own business. Luehrsen taught Three-Dimensional Design as an adjunct faculty member at Mesa Community College for 18 years. She exhibits her art locally, nationally, and internationally.
The Auckland Institute and Museum in New Zealand, the ASU Art Museum’s Ceramics Research Center, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, the West Valley Art Museum, the Cities of Phoenix, Tempe, Peoria, Chandler and Prescott Valley, the Kamm Teapot Foundation, and many notable private and corporate collections hold Luehrsen’s work.
Artist’s Statement
My art explores the cycles of life here on Earth and life in the hereafter — if there is one. Nature shows us that there must be something bigger than us out there. I find that both humbling and hopeful.
I left the green Midwest to live in the wild khaki colored desert. I wanted a new beginning. The exotic desert flora fascinated me from the start. Inspired by desert plants, the colors of the land and sky, and a greener past, I use clay sculpture and mixed media prints to create my art. I build trees of life, gardens and skies with suns, planets, and stars with clay. I translate those into two dimensional shapes using my computer and a printing press.
