About Susan

Susan Mackey is an independent art writer and curator based in Falls Church, Virginia. She is particularly interested in how art relates to the body, especially with regard to race and gender.

Mackey is the Carolinas Editor-at-Large for the Atlanta-based art publication Burnaway. In 2016, Mackey participated in Burnaway’s Art Writing Incubator. 

Her graduate thesis, “Dreams of the South,” explores the ways in which photographs by Clarence John Laughlin (American, b. Louisiana 1904-1985) contribute to a nostalgic fantasy of U.S. American plantation life.

She received an M.A. in Art History, Theory, and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a B.A. in Art History and Women’s Studies from Appalachian State University. 


For inquiries regarding curatorial, writing, or speaking opportunities, please contact me.