“Social Justice is to afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted.” -Dorothy Day

Emulating this quote an artist sits in a dimly lit room, performing the painstaking task of guiding a brush across a canvas, perfectly executing her motivation as an artist, pouring every ounce of emotion into her work as possible. However, this act is even more than that. It involves not only the precision of a career spent perfecting a craft, but like Day it is also about advocating for change and presenting a passion for the sanctity of life to the world.

That passion is the life force of Susan Lawlor, associate professor of graphic design and chair of Art + Design at Avila University. Lawlor is an artist, professor, mentor and activist helping to do her part to create right relationships with the Earth and animals.

Lawlor exemplifies this work both in her life and in her art.

Lawlor has had a very successful career as a professor, designer and artist, but it is her passion for securing a peaceful coexistence between living creatures and the environment that has helped her to create some of her most cherished work.

Lawlor’s art features the use of mixed media to demonstrate the complexities of the subject matter she exhibits. Lawlor’s mission is not only to stimulate aesthetic reflection but also to raise awareness to and promote discussion on some of the world’s most severe cases of abuse.

In addition to her work exposing global injustices, Lawlor seeks justice in a more literal sense by even going so far as to trap, neuter and return feral cats to their native community. Lawlor has also facilitated workshops on composting through Bridging the Gap, an organization connecting the community with resources for environmental sustainability and has been a long time “green” practitioner in her personal life through recycling and organic gardening.

In the classroom Lawlor challenges her students to perfect their craft in Avila’s pre-professional training by helping them find their inspiration in nature and the world around them. As a designer, Lawlor has won numerous awards from such organizations as the International Association of Business Communicators, Kansas City Art Directors Club, University and College Designers Association and many others.

Lawlor received her bachelor of fine arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and her master of fine arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Lawlor’s aspirations may once have been biology, but as an artist, her passion for the Earth continues unfettered. She approaches everything as Dorothy Day did by asking what is best not only for humanity but for the entire living world.