Dr. S.M. Chipley was born in Pennsylvania and spent much of her life in Appalachia, living in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia. She earned a B.S. in Art and Art Education from the University of Alabama 1966, an M.A. in Crafts and Art Education from the University of Georgia in 1969, and an Ed.D. in Art Education from Penn State University in 1978. In 1976 she moved to West Virginia, began teaching at Concord College and retired after performing twenty-eight years of service. She taught: Intro to Art, Art Education I & II, Art for Early Child, Art for Secondary Education, Crafts I & II, Drawing I, Design I, Problems in Crafts, Weaving I & II, and American Art History
She was president of the West Virginia Art Education Association for two years. She has received many awards including Art Educator of the Year for WV, the National Art Education Association's Southeastern Higher Education Art Educator of the year, the WV Art Education Association's Outstanding Higher Education Art Educator, and she is a former president of the College Art Association. She is a practicing artist and crafts-person who has had many individual shows as well as participated in other shows within the state and region. When not producing Art she loves to visit museums and enhance her skills with classes at Art Schools and Craft Centers. Her life has been one of an artist, educator and crafts-person.
Sketches of Houses in Athens, WV was compiled in spring 2019, and contains a collection of fifty-six watercolor sketches of homes and businesses in Athens, WV created during 2002-3. The paintings were made from sketches she did over a few years time. In 2003 she presented a show of twenty or so of the works which were professionally matted and displayed in the First Community Bank and BB&T in Athens. The sale of works and show was her way to give something back to the town. The collage above offers a random sampling of some of the sketches from the book.