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Artist Statement

Portrait of African-American man wearing a suit and glasses. His face is half in shadow. The background in turquoise.

I’ve been making assemblages for a long time. At first, they were new materials: a toy soldier adorned with ribbon, lace, and shiny fabric or a painted canvas with new wooden slats like Venetian blinds and old gloves. Then, in 1995, I moved into a house with the T-bars of an old clothesline still standing. I found a large sheet of used plastic and a rusted hoop, made an angelic form, and started my career as a reuse artist. 

 

Now, because of my earnest desire to reduce the environmental and biological harms caused by plastic, I use it and other non-recyclable trash as my medium. My artwork doesn’t solve the problem but calls attention to it. “The Poisoner’s Handbook” by Deborah Blum enumerates the various ways in which poisons were used, some intentionally and some not, in the early 20th century. I’ve wondered, “What are we doing now, unintentionally, that is poison in the early 21st century?” My beautiful artwork shows the horrifying reality that we are poisoning the planet and ourselves. 

 

I bring my social, political, and environmental work and vision to the public through shows in libraries, local art centers, and colleges.

Biography

Sarah Schneiderman is an assemblage artist. Exhibitions include recent solo shows at Mitchell, Cheshire Public, Portland, Avon Free Public Libraries, Kellogg Environmental Center, Clinton Avenue Elementary School, John Martinez Sea and Sky Magnet School, ARTWALK at Hartford Public Library, Underground Gallery, and Art Corridor at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Saint Raphael Campus. Sarah participated in recent group exhibitions at Ely Center of Contemporary Art, Stola Contemporary Art, Georgia State University Perimeter Campus, Gallery 378, Woman Made Gallery, Arts Center East, Ice Box Project Space, North Dakota Museum of Art, The Urban Collective, and the Mattatuck Museum. 

 

The New Haven Independent, Record-Journal and Cheshire Citizen, The Artists Essentials, The Hartford Courant, Arts Paper (New Haven), Glastonbury Life, and ArtKatalyst have written about Sarah’s artwork and practice.

 

Sarah has given artist talks for the Women’s Caucus for Art – Washington, D.C. Chapter, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, Kellogg Environmental Center, Cheshire Art League, and Hamden Art League.

 

She led workshops for Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, Beauty Beyond Borders, Hartford Public Library, and Camp Stomping Ground.

 

Sarah received formal training with a BFA from Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C., and an MFA, from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California.

Portrait of Angella Reid, former chief white house usher. Made from buttons and other found objects sewn onto canvas.

Resume

Selected Shows and Installations

 

2025

  • Diversity Lives Here: The Spirit of a Femininomenon, Monmouth University, Howard Hall, West Long Branch, NJ

  • Salon: 2025 WCADC Member Invitational, Waverly Street Gallery, Bethesda, MD

  • Gift of Life, Artists & Makers Studios, Rockville, MD

  • Black Joy, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD

2024

  • Solo Exhibitions

    • You’re Fired! I Quit! A Visual Commentary on the 45th Presidency of the United States of America, Simsbury Public Library, Simsbury, CT 

    • More Garbage Than Fish, Hitchcock Center for the Environment at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA

    • First, Not Last: Portraits Celebrating Individuals Who Broke Political Barriers in 2020, Newton Free Library, Newton, MA

  • Group Exhibitions

    • Celebrate the Colors of the Season, Friendship Gallery, Chevy Chase, MD

    • Why I Vote Again, , The Compass Gallery, Kensington, MD 

    • Queering Democracy, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, 137 East Avenue, Rochester, NY

2023

  • Solo Exhibitions 

    • Breaking Political Barriers, numerous libraries in CT

    • More Garbage Than Fish, Wethersfield Library, Wethersfield, CT

  • Pivotal, Montpelier Art Center, Laurel, MD

  • Less Plastic, More Fish with Lots of Fish, Connecticut State Capitol Upper Concourse, Hartford, CT

  • Exhibition 3 in the Diversity 365 Gallery, Donald R. Welter Library, Three Rivers Community College, Norwich, CT

2022

  • Solo Exhibitions of Breaking Political Barriers: Portland Library, Portland, CT and Avon Free Public Library, Avon, CT

  • More Garbage Than Fish, Kellogg Environmental Center, Derby, CT

  • Moving Towards Our North Star, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, Medford, MA

  • Democracy in Danger, Stola Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

  • Undercurrents, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT

2021

2020

  • FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead, AtroCity Planning Department (FEMAtrocities.com at https://iceboxprojectspace.com), Philadelphia, PA

  • Rituals of Resistance, The Urban Collective, New Haven, CT

  • Witchy, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT

  • Mixmaster 2020, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT

2019

  • Solo Exhibitions

    • You’re Fire! I Quit!, ARTWALK, Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CT 

    • More Garbage Than Fish, Underground Gallery, Collinsville, CT 

    • 2019-Art Corridor, Yale New Haven Hospital, Saint Raphael Campus, New Haven, CT 

  • Group Exhibitions

    • Ear to the Ground, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT

2018

  • Solo Exhibitions

    • Disorganized: Political Portraits by Sarah Schneiderman, Silence is Golden Gallery, Shelton, CT

    • All Fish, All the Time, Glass Source Studios and Gallery, Seymour, CT

    • Something Fishy: Politicians and Sea Creatures by Sarah Schneiderman, Stockman Gallery, New Britain, CT

  • Group Exhibitions

    • Relishing Restraint, Loft Artists Association, Stamford, CT

    • Nothing Rhymes with Orange, The Range at Lotta Studio, New Haven, CT

    • America Now, Providence Art Club, Providence, RI

    • Spectrum Gestalt 5, bG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

2017

  • New England Collective 8 Annual Show, Boston, MA 

  • Visions of the Caribbean, South Fulton Arts Center, Atlanta, GA 

  • Eye of the Beholder, Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD 

  • MixMaster, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT

2016

  • H2O: What it is it Worth?, Columbia City Gallery, Seattle, WA

  • Spectrum Gestalt 3, bG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

  • Flora and Fauna, Annapolis Maritime Museum, Annapolis, MD

2015

  • Finding our Place, Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Art Center, Dowell, MD

  • EARTH, Dubuque Area Arts Collective, Dubuque, IA 

2014

  • The Wall (Solo installation), Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, CT 

  • Pause for Beauty, Studio 33 Gallery, New London, CT

 

 

Workshops, Public Events, Artist Talks, and Residencies

 

 

Education

 

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C.

Master of Fine Arts, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California 

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