Tim Shuckerow

Tim Shuckerow (GRS ’76, art education) was a highly respected artist, art educator and mentor who delighted in recruiting talented people to campus programs—changing their lives and diversifying the ranks of art teachers.

Shuckerow directed the art studio and art education in the Department of Art History and Art for more than 30 years. He retired in 2020 and died in July 2023.

Georgio Sabino III (GRS ’09) remembers Shuckerow inviting him to join the Master of Arts in Art Education program. “He took an interest in me, an interest in my art— and he helped shape what I was doing,” said Sabino, an artist and art teacher in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Sandra Noble also received a Shuckerow invitation—to teach in the campus art education program after a career in the Cleveland schools. “Tim opened doors for me, which is what he did with a lot of the students, too,” she said.

He also encouraged her to return to her own art. “And look where I am now,” said Noble, who created a wall-hanging that last year became part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. 

A painter, Shuckerow also was an advocate, especially for increasing diversity among art educators. A significant portion of the more than 200 students he guided were members of racial or ethnic minority groups.

Before Shuckerow retired, he and Sabino curated an African American Alumni Art Exhibition at the campus Art Studio Gallery. “He wanted his [former] students to shine,” Sabino said.