Susan Goshgarian McGrew was born in Boston and grew up with a sometimes conflicting love of creativity and science. Her love of science led her to obtain a medical degree at Northwestern University in Illinois. After moving to Nashville in 1981, establishing a pediatric practice and beginning a family, she acknowledged a need to explore a more serious development of her artistic ambitions. She studied art at the Cheekwood Museum of Art and in workshops with master artists. In order to find balance between her artistic and medical career, she limits her practice of medicine to the severely underserved autism community, working two days a week at the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Vanderbilt Center for Child Development. She finds that the two careers complement each other, both requiring patience and the ability to think outside the box. She continues to exhibit in regional and national art shows and had a solo exhibition of her work at the Cheekwood Museum of Art in July 2001.

In the series of Little Harpeth River paintings on exhibition at Nashville International Airport, McGrew focuses on capturing the vitality of the natural settings that she paints. Through watercolor and graphite studies she explores the movement of the water currents of the river, as well as the ambiance of the surrounding trees and wildlife. Using her photographs and artistic studies of the area, McGrew creates oil paintings that convey the dynamism that she perceives in her surroundings. She says, “I use the tension of opposing colors as well as the careful treatment of light to translate the energy of the natural world into movement on my canvas. I consider the Little Harpeth River the heart and soul of Nashville, and I hope this series will encourage viewers to explore the natural environs of the city.”

Arts at the Airport receives funding for the visual arts from the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) and the Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC). Music performances are sponsored by MNAA, Delaware North Companies, Inc. and The Paradies Shops. The Flying Solo Exhibition Series is funded in part under an agreement with the TAC and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about Arts at the Airport, please call (615)275-1614 or visit www.artsattheairport.com.