Macon Magazine

34 maconmagazine.com | October/November 2025 Explore the museum's offerings at masmacon.org and Welsh can be contacted through her website at welshappraisal.com. growing representation of works by diverse emerging Southeastern artists. To this end, I curated more than 100 exhibitions focused on post-war, contemporary, and emerging art – all of which could be used by educators to meet math and science curriculum requirements. No other institution is better equipped or more committed to developing and delivering innovative STEAM programs than MAS." ARTFUL TECHNOLO GIE S Recent examples of Welsh's work integrating arts and technology include immersive fulldome films and Wonderspaces exhibits brought into the museum's Mark Smith Planetarium and Burgess Gallery, both updated with advanced technology. The museum commissioned fulldome works and welcomed filmmakers from almost two dozen countries through its Fulldome Festival in association with the Macon Film Festival. Creators have felt the impact of Welsh's vision for new technologies and immersive multimedia creations. "For me, the Macon [Fulldome] Festival is special because it encourages filmmakers to be free and express themselves in different ways and forms," said Asya (Dyro) Dragoon, who works internationally and has screened films in Macon. "When I'm sending my fulldome movies to the Macon fest, I have a feeling that I'll be understood." Ryan Moore is a filmmaker and executive director of Dome Fest West. His "Indirect Actions" was an early award winner in Macon and the first feature-length documentary fulldome film ever made. "Macon's Fulldome Festival at the Museum of Arts and Sciences is what inspired Dome Fest West to start in Los Angeles," he said. "Susan's opening the museum to the event and the audience's reaction gave our team the confidence to do something similar. Her unwavering support of the creator community has given filmmakers a platform to share their work while giving Macon audiences the rare chance to experience the best in fulldome filmmaking." UNUSUALLY S TRONG VI SUAL LITER ACY It seemed good to ask Welsh how to visually evaluate works of art, though briefly. What she shared brought an astonishing revelation: "My visual literacy and memory are really high. That's because when I was 11, I had the childhood illness, Reye's syndrome. I was in a coma, and it severely affected my memory, taking it away. With my mother's help, I relearned 10 years of my life by looking at childhood photographs. I had to examine every intimate detail in every photo and think through every aspect. It caused me at an early age to develop a visual literacy that's unusually strong," she said. "I developed a skill set out of desperation." Imagine the effort of examining "tons and tons of family photographs," then later to thoughtfully consider a work of art. Welsh said, in part, she worked hard relearning memories because her mom was grieving so deeply for her loss of them. A NE W CHAP TER Once retired, Welsh will remain somewhat active with MAS, working with special projects and writing exhibit catalogues. Next year, for example, she will produce a special publication highlighting the ceramics collection. "I'll retire in December and devote my full attention to fine art appraising and advising through my private practice – Welsh Art Appraisal & Advisory," she said. "It serves private collectors, museums, and businesses across the Southeast. Some families have lived with paintings all their lives and begin to wonder about their history and value. Some may want to donate a work or collection to a museum – I'm a huge proponent of strengthening public collections." Welsh said the purpose of her practice is largely to encourage collectors to strengthen public museums and to prepare works of art for such transfers. "I provide a variety of services, from helping businesses create collections to helping collectors document their collections. Works without information and scholarship behind them have very little value, which is something people don't think about. But yes, ideally, I'll be helping collectors partner with regional institutions to bolster public collections. That's very, very rewarding." "No other institution is better equipped or more committed to developing and delivering innovative STEAM programs than MAS." ABOVE Welsh plans to continue her appraisal practice after retiring.

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