Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lane.
Sarah Hardesty, assistant professor in Marymount University’s Fine Arts program and a visual artist, has been announced as a recipient of one of ARTSFAIRFAX’s 2020 Artist Grants.
The highly competitive individual grants recognize the exceptional work of Fairfax County artists across a range of disciplines that include visual arts, creative writing, theatre, dance performance and choreography, film and new media. Only one other artist – writer Diane Zinna – received a 2020 Artist Grant. A peer-reviewed panel selected Hardesty and Zinna for their artistic merit and achievements from a group of 21 highly qualified artists, performers, choreographers and writers.
Each $5,000 award is both a high honor and an investment in artists at critical stages in their creative lives and careers.
“We know that Fairfax County’s creative sector of arts producers and entrepreneurs are incubators of talent,” said Linda Sullivan, President & CEO of ARTSFAIRFAX. “Fairfax artists and writers like Hardesty and Zinna often go unnoticed despite their national and international work. The goal of the ARTSFAIRFAX Artist Grants is to raise the profile of outstanding artists by shining a light on their accomplishments while supporting their growth as artists.”
Hardesty, a resident of Falls Church, Va., uses drawing, painting, installations and sculptures to present experiences that connect with our core feelings through the physical landscapes of our lives.
“My work incorporates textures, patterns and other elements to create a visual platform to align what is happening to the earth with what is happening with personal experience,” Hardesty said.
Hardesty has been exhibited and has received awards and residencies across the U.S. Her Artist Grant recognizes the breadth of her visual arts mastery and over 50 successful solo and group exhibitions, nine awards and residencies and 11 grant awards. She has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Wassaic Project, the Carriage House at Islip Art Museum, Santa Fe Art Institute and the Vermont Studio Center.
Click here to view Hardesty’s porfolio on her professional website.
