Sharon Rusch Shaver is a nationally recognized artist and longtime resident of Middle Tennessee who has been painting professionally since the 1970s. Over the course of her career, she has built a distinguished body of work inspired by people, places, and the beauty she finds in everyday life. Her paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries and are held in corporate, institutional, and private collections throughout the United States.
Sharon’s work has earned numerous awards and honors, including the Tennessee Allstate Purchase Award, Best in Show at the Central South Awards Show in Nashville, Tennessee, the Juror’s Award for Excellence in Painting at the New Renaissance Regional Art Exhibition, and an Award for Excellence in Painting from the Steamboat Art Museum in Colorado.
In 2008, Sharon was selected as an Artist in Residence at the Glen Arbor Art Association in Glen Arbor, Michigan. That same year, Columbia State University in Tennessee purchased one of her paintings for its permanent collection of Tennessee artists. Her work was featured in Southern Living Magazine in 2005, and in 2023 she was featured in an article and live interview celebrating her life and career as an artist.
Her museum and gallery exhibitions include the Cheekwood Museum of Art, The Parthenon Fine Art Gallery, and the Frist Art Museum in Nashville; the Clarksville Customs House Museum of Fine Art in Clarksville, Tennessee; and the Steamboat Art Museum in Colorado.
Sharon’s career also includes significant public and commissioned works. She completed more than 30 paintings for the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in Birmingham and created a 100-square-foot mural for the United States Postal Service downtown office located at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville. She was commissioned to create an original painting for the White House Historical Association in Washington, D.C., which is now part of its permanent collection.
Her paintings can also be found in corporate collections including Brown-Forman in Louisville, Kentucky; Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas; and Blue Cross and Blue Shield, as well as in numerous private collections throughout the country.
A dedicated teacher as well as a professional artist, Sharon shares her experience through intensive oil painting workshops in the United States and Europe. She has also participated in grant programs through Tennessee organizations, teaching the fundamentals of oil painting to beginning artists and helping others discover the joy of painting.
Her professional recognition includes listings in The World Who’s Who of Women, Marquis Who’s Who in America, and the Dictionary of International Biography of London, England. She is also a recipient of the Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.
Through decades of painting, teaching, exhibiting, and traveling, Sharon Rusch Shaver continues to pursue her passion for capturing the beauty and meaning she sees in the world around her.
