Sherri Cornett - Sculptor

My German immigrant and pioneer roots are set deep in the homesteads around the small south Texas town of Cuero where both of my parents grew up, met and married. I, the lone Yankee of the extended family, was born in Akron, Ohio – the first of many places I would temporarily call home. Wherever the winding path of my father’s work took us, my parents chose houses near undeveloped areas, which my brothers and I explored: ranch land with dewberries,

Sherri in Minnesota Ave studio

horny toads, crayfish and lightning bugs; pine trees to climb and catch the wind; creeks to follow; hayfields, bordered by wild plums and black raspberries, which, when high, were playgrounds for hide and seek and maze building; hillsides whose trees formed webs of exposed roots which became pathways and houses for fairies…

Each summer we wove our way back to Cuero from Atlanta, Charlotte, Hudson, Fort Bragg, Akron or Houston, stopping at the natural wonders of caves, swamps, canyons, mountain lookouts and deserts. My paternal grandparents owned a farm. Grandmother Inez, a first grade teacher, taught me how to make environments for the “critters” (snakes, toads, turtles) I caught out of chicken wire, inside of which we made nests of grass, twigs and weeds for their comfort. My maternal grandparents lived in town in a small house surrounded by large pecan trees and vegetable and flower gardens. The women in my family were often doing some kind of handwork - quilting, tatting, embroidering, crocheting, knitting, sewing - and adding their own bit of creativity to each piece of work. The two sets of grandparents collaborated to build a one-room cabin on stilts on an oyster reef in San Espiritu Bay off the Texas coast and just north of the Aransas Wildlife Refuge where the whooping cranes wintered. We called it the Shack and I considered it our family’s spiritual home, especially when three generations were there together during a rainstorm or an intensely hot summer afternoon, protected by the room just barely large enough to hold us all.

As an adult, I've lived in Colorado, back in Texas, Oregon and, finally, settled in 1993 in Billings, Montana with my husband, Steve and our children, Collin and Emma. My curiosity and sense of adventure have taken me to many other places in this and other countries.

My adventures have included mountain climbing, scuba diving, sailing, horseback riding, hiking, camping, skiing, dancing, and drumming. Along the way I have been mentored by some incredible people - women and men. All of these experiences and my interest in and service to people and community have led me to and influenced my pursuit of art and sculpture. 

Sherri in first studio at the Crowder Horse Ranch

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

2008+         Member, International Sculpture Center

2003+         Member, Art Student's League, MSUBillings

2010           Member, Women's Caucus for Art (part of College Art Association)

                  Member, National Organization for Women

Selected Other Experiences        

President/Board Member Alberta Bair Theater, Billings, MT; Founding Member Beaux Arts Ball Committee, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT; Founder The Dance Salon, Billings, MT; Author Anti-Bias Literature Guide for Billings Coalition for Human Rights; Founder/Editor Earthwards Newspaper, Portland, OR; Public Relations Director Downtown Fort Worth YMCA; Member Fort Worth Ad Club; Co-Chair Entertainment Committee National Conference, Public Relations Society of America; Chair, Professional Development, Fort Worth Public Relations Society; Assistant to City Council Member Christin Hartung, Houston City Council; Member Health Planning Advisory Committee, Houston-Galveston Area Council; Member Women's Advisory Board, New Directions Halfway House, Houston, TX; Appalachia Service Project;