Today we’d like to introduce you to Savannah Schroll Guz.
Hi Savannah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and grew up in the York, Pennsylvania area, where my parents manufactured custom cabinetry and fine furniture for more than 35 years. I have very vivid memories of sitting at my father’s shop office desk and drawing princesses with conical hats on his graph paper tablets from the Formica Corporation. During my early years, my Mum read a great number of fairytales, fables, literature, and lore to me, and I still draw on this rich font of material for my paintings and sculptures. As I grew up, my father provided me with plenty of supplies and, often, logistical help for my projects. He was chief matter, framer, and general engineer for my more complicated ideas, a role my husband has taken on since we got married twenty years ago.
Following my graduation from Juniata College in 1997, I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany. I lived first in Kiel and then in Munich, where I attended university and worked as an intern at the Neue Pinakothek for Curator Dr. Konrad Renger. Renger specialized in 17th-century Flemish painters like David Teniers the Younger, and I was absolutely fascinated by the detail within the Baroque genre paintings on which we focused. There’s a little of this revelry, whimsy, and hidden messaging in my current work.
With an MA in art history from the University of Pittsburgh, I went on to Washington, DC, where I worked for the Smithsonian Libraries and painted in my MacArthur Boulevard apartment in my spare time. I returned to York during the now-infamous sniper attacks of 2002, and by 2005, I had met my husband, and we moved to his family’s farm in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. There, I had a basement studio I called the “Art Bunker,” and I began to create the work that I am currently known for: paintings with handmade frames that are ornamented with hand-set gemstones and sculptures that involve history, folklore, and magic. In 2020, I represented the state of West Virginia in the national Her Flag project (https://www.herflag.com/), which celebrated the centenary of the 19th Amendment’s ratification. My stripe design, which was 34th on the flag, was one of 36 comprising an 18’ x 27’ flag that appeared on the facades of the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. In 2025, I was fortunate to be a West Virginia Creative Network Creative Entrepreneur Fellow, and along with seven other amazing West Viginia creatives, my work was featured in exhibitions at both Marshall University and The Juliet Art Museum within the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences.
Now, after 20 years of living in West Virginia, my husband and I have moved back to Pennsylvania, specifically to the little village of Big Mount—which lies between Dover and East Berlin—where I spent a good portion of my childhood. Here, I can walk through cedar woods and over corn fields and watch snapping turtles move slowly between pond and creek. I have a new studio here, where I continue to create large-scale sculptural and painted works that are still inspired by folklore and narrative tales.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While my life has been a fairly unbroken flow of creative energy, challenges have always been part of the process. An artist’s income is usually episodic and extremely sensitive to market downturns, when original paintings and sculptures are more frequently viewed as luxury items. Ultimately, the sale of work is never a certainty. Often these challenges have taught me adaptability and resourcefulness, and I have learned to trust the process. Whatever I have encountered in life has generally prepared me for a future circumstance where that particular lesson became relevant. The making process brings a lot of joy and soothes a great deal of the anxiety that accompanies life.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create medium- and large-scale sculptures and acrylic-on-wood paintings with hand-made or heavily altered frames. I regularly ornament both with hand-set cabochons, lab-created gemstones, or raw quartz crystals so that they recall medieval reliquaries. I really view an entire sculpture or painting, front and back, as an objet d’art, and I decorate every side. My work, which has generally cannibalized clock cases and other furniture parts, now incorporates other materials, including paper clay and fabric. I like a challenge. I remember reading that the Pittsburgh-based sculptor Thaddeus Mosley said he often created certain work to see if he could actually do it, and I absolutely relate to that. I often create pieces to see if I can overcome the logistical and material obstacles to making it become a physical reality. It’s part of the appeal of creating for me. If possible, I want to make the physical object better than I envisioned it would be. There’s a huge sense of accomplishment in that. Ultimately, I want my pieces to create a sense of joy and wonder in those who view and own them. I hope to always remind people that the world has so much beauty and enchantment.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Apart from the excitement and satisfaction that comes from having someone purchase a work to live with in their home or acquire for their collection, my idea of success is having the freedom and the ability to keep making pieces and to continue growing as an artist. I enjoy setting goals for myself, growing into new media, and gaining new skills. For example, I recently took a carving class, so that I can begin to incorporate those abilities into my future practices. To me, success is continuing to create in my studio and fully develop pieces that I enjoy looking at again once they’re complete.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.savannahschrollguzstudios.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savannahschrollguz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savannahschrollguzstudios/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@savannahschrollguzstudios
- Other: https://savannahschrollguz.substack.com/
Image Credits
All images of Savannah were taken by Braiden Maddox of UnderstoryWV and Mary Roy of the West Virginia Creative Network.
