Susan Shifrin, PhD
Founder & Executive Director
ARTZ Philadelphia
Bio: Susan Shifrin is the founder and director of ARTZ Philadelphia. She founded ARTZ Philadelphia in 2013. She is an art historian, curator, educator and arts accessibility advocate. She received her PhD from Bryn Mawr College and has worked on the staffs of a number of large and small museums up and down the East coast. Susan was inspired to start ARTZ Philadelphia after having hosted a series of workshops and programs for visitors with dementia at the Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, where she was the Museum's educator for a number of years. Susan was profoundly affected as she watched visitors, many in the later stages of dementia, come to life in the Museum as they looked at and talked about art with each other, with her, their professional caregivers, and the college students who worked at the Museum. People who, in some cases, had rarely spoken about or shared their lives with others seemed transformed. Art was their vehicle for expression, interaction, creativity, and mutual respect.