Sandra Shannonhouse (1947–2025) was a sculptor whose inventive practice moved from playful ceramic objects to large-scale works in bronze, copper and aluminum. Born in Petaluma, California, she earned her B.A. from University of California, Davis, in 1969, studied at the Accademia Costume e Moda in Rome, and returned to UC Davis to earn her M.F.A. in 1973. Her early ceramic sculptures—including meticulously crafted candies—connected her to the irreverent spirit surrounding Northern California’s influential Candy Store Gallery. Her later sculptures incorporated organic and architectural forms to explore the relationship between the human body and the spaces it inhabits. Shannonhouse received public art commissions in Davis and Benicia, and her work is held by institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of California and di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art. Her sculptures Copper Cage and Rosemary Place (both 1994) are installed in the Manetti Shrem Museum courtyard. Shannonhouse married UC Davis professor Robert Arneson in 1973. Following his death in 1992, she helped establish and steward the Robert Arneson Archive, preserving an important record of his artistic practice.