Sally Swiss

Sally A. Swiss was born September 24, 1917, in Saginaw, and was the daughter of Michigan State Senator Chester M. Howell. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Art from Michigan State University, and went on to teach art at Arthur Hill High School for 5 years. During WWII, she was a Red Cross girl, stationed in Hawaii from 1944 – 1946, before moving back to Lansing in 1953 where she was employed by the Lansing School District as an elementary art teacher. She continued in this job until her retirement in 1982. For many years she was an active member in the Lansing Art Guild, the Lansing Art Gallery, Friends of Kresge Art Gallery, Michigan Watercolor Society, as well as professional art organizations MAEA and NAEA. She was a frequent exhibitor in Mid-Michigan galleries, and her interior scenes were prized for the Expressionist intricacies and intimate details.

After her death in 2009, her family established the Sally A. Swiss Endowment Art Scholarship through Michigan State University Foundation and her art remains in the permanent collection at the Broad Museum in Lansing, Michigan.