Susan Page Tillett

Susan became the first executive director of the Mesa Refuge in October 2013. She originally came to the Mesa Refuge as a writer and later moved to West Marin to lead the artist community from founder’s startup to a sustainable organization. Susan has a deep commitment to supporting the work of creative people and connecting them to the local community.

Susan was executive director of the Ragdale Foundation, a large artist community north of Chicago, from 2000-2012. During her tenure, she welcomed more than 2,000 artists-in-residence, restored the historic property, increased Ragdale’s profile in the community and raised more than $10 million.

Prior to her work in artist communities, Susan had 25 years of experience in museums, including the Smithsonian, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago History Museum and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Susan has a B.A. in American Literature from Hamilton College and an M.A. in American Studies from George Washington University. She is co-author, with Sarah Hadley, of The Ragdale House Speaks and author of “What’s to Wear, Beatrice Bird?” a book on color.  She is currently working on several book projects involving words and images.  Since retiring, Susan has consulted with a number of arts organizations and has taught several workshops on creative writing, at the 92^nd Street Y in New York and UC Berkeley’s OLLI program. She is co-host of Mesa Refuge Conversations on KWMR.