About SarahGalleryIntentClassesExperienceShowings

MagnoliaI was born in Grand Forks, ND, the year of the “100 year flood” of the Red River. The extreme rise of the river happened again in 1997, ushering in my graduation from Central High School and my move to Duluth.

I was immediately drawn to painting, beyond my initial interest and previous experience. Additionally, I give credit to a phenomenal professor, Dean Lettenstrom, who taught me the multi-faceted “weight” of paint. My studies brought me to England in 1998, when I traveled to and spent the academic year at Westhill College in Birmingham.

Upon returning to the United States, my focus on art intensified and I applied for and received permission to focus my degree on painting as a Pre-Graduate Studio Art Candidate. I supplemented/dually investigated art with a minor in dance, centering my interest in Modern Dance Choreography under another great professor, Kim Neal Nofsinger. His passion was inspirational. Human form and movement became a huge focal point in all my creative work, and still persists today.

Immediately following my graduation at UMD, I was accepted on scholarship on a joint program between Studio Arts Center International and Bowling Green State University. For the first year I lived and learned in Florence, Italy, which ultimately split open many ideas I had formed regarding identity on my different levels. My professors and my fellow students were as integral in the development of new knowledge and understanding as was Italy itself.

Given my physical proximity to Iraq, the beginning of the US intervention pushed the intentions of my own work outside of a purely personal scope. My work became, and remains socio-politically conscious, as I realized that art itself has pure potential to speak volumes when others cannot. This drive and awareness carried me through my final year of my formal education at Bowling Green State University. The quiet fields and the amazing talent of those surrounding me helped me to turn my lens inward with the same external consciousness.

The result of this study, while physically ending in my Masters Thesis Exhibition, continues to burn and be simultaneously quenched, in Duluth, MN. I teach Modern Art History at College of St. Scholastica and Drawing and Painting at the Duluth Art Institute. The cycle of teaching and learning is an unending experience that I thrive on. Lake Superior is a bastion of peace, and somehow it seems that in my life I am always meant to be in some sort of communion with water and of course, with paint.

I owe my inspiration and drive to my family and friends who have supported me every step of the way, and most of all, to James.

11-9-2005

About Sarah | Gallery | Intent | Classes | Experience | Showings