Sheila Klein

Sheila Klein was born in Pittsburgh. Her 1st grade teacher wouldn’t allow erasers. Sheila used her rubber-soled gym shoes instead. It was the start of performing with materials.I n 3rd grade she was picked for Tam O'Shanters – young artists with exceptional talent and promise that met at the Carnegie Museum. Sheila spent weekends at the museum exploring the visual arts and also performing in plays, making costumes and sets. As a teen Sheila left home to concentrate on making objects that were visually and materially influenced by experimental theater.
Arriving in Seattle in 1972 after a stint in San Miguel de Allende at Instituto Allende, she attended the Factory of Visual Art. Her focus on textiles led to mixed-media installations and apivotal exhibition in 1981 at P.S.1. Realizing she wanted to work in public spaces, she began a creative consultancy with Olson-Walker Architects and co-founded A2Z, a collaborative art+architecture firm. Sheila moved to Los Angeles in 1983, launching an active career in So-Cal.
In 1995, she returned to the Skagit Valley with her family continuing to build civic projects, work in the studio and pursue personal projects. Klein has exhibited at such diverse organizations as P.S.1, Institute for Art and Urban Studies in New York, Memory and Lands of the 20th Century in Florence, Italy, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York and La Foret Museum in Tokyo, Japan. Klein’s work has been published in art journals and mainstream media including the New York Times, Times of India and National Public Radio. She is the youngest artist included in the book 50 Northwest Artists. "I want to dress the world. Re-make it, as I want to see it, one piece at a time. The world is my studio. performing with materials."