STATEMENT
In every painting field my goal is to deliberately collapse the lines between unknowability and that which we can instantly recognize. Where do they cross? Can definition be captured and confounded at the same time? Instead of frustration, is it freedom? I hunt these moments down in my studio.
My process layers a vocabulary of emblems generated over time and a celebratory take on color and materials to create abstract painterly surfaces. The works demonstrate the creative process as both content and journey and balance playfully between the familiar and the strange.
Toeing the line between familiarity and strangeness is a game. It connects you and me. Do you see what I see? What do we add to each other's experience when we see the same thing? Or, when we see it completely different?
The resulting paintings are joyfully open-ended and from them spring a multitude of associations and experience. A trove of possible meanings explore the capabilities of our imagination, ask what painting can be, and dreams of the unseen and unknowable. Most importantly, they illuminate the potential for human connection that exists within these questions.
BIO
Sarah Boyts Yoder is a painter based in Charlottesville, VA.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, TX, she received a BFA in painting from Eastern New Mexico University in 2003 and an MFA in painting from James Madison University in 2006. Since then her work has been featured in almost 50 solo and group exhibitions, numerous publications, and in corporate and private collections throughout the United States and abroad.
Boyts Yoder has been the recipient of a professional fellowship in painting from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and has been a fellow and artist in residence multiple times at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 100 West Corsicana in Corsicana, TX and at Blue Apple Beach in Cartagena, Colombia.
Most recently she was selected as the recipient of a fellowship from the J&E Berkley Foundation for a residency at VCCA in March, 2025.
Curriculum Vitae
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Curriculum Vitae *
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B. 1980 Fort Worth, Texas
MFA 2006 Painting, James Madison University
BFA 2003 Painting, Eastern New Mexico University
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2026
Promenade, Richmond International Airport, Richmond, VA via The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Exhibition Program
2023
Realm, Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2021
Emblem, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Meantime, Jagg Gallery, Key West, FL
2019
Look At All There Is To Have, Saint Cloche, Sydney, Australia
Fleet, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2018
bathymetry, Sawhill Memorial Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Trove, Charleston Music Hall, Charleston, SC
Never No Horizons, Beverly Street Studio, Staunton, VA
2017
Forget Your Perfect Offering, Studio IX, Charlottesville, VA
2015
Elbows On The Table, Welcome Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
A Single Jumpy Heart, The Garage, Charlottesville, VA
Light In June, Blenheim Vineyards, Charlottesville, VA
2014
Insist/Resist, Amuse Restaurant at VMFA, Richmond, VA
2013
Nothing Passes, This Too Shall Pass, Jericho Gallery, Charleston, SC
2012
Merge/Emerge, The Real Estate Studio, Charleston, SC
2011
Reunion, Flagship Gallery, Charleston, SC
Nice Work, Jericho Gallery, Charleston, SC, 2011
2008
Reveal/Recover, Spark Gallery & Studios, Charleston, SC
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2026
The Shape of Color, curated by Dana McClure, Ravenwood, Kerhonkson, NY
Under A Sherbert Sky, curated by Marc Mitchell, I Like Your Work (online & catalog)
Mark Making, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC
2025
Cross Section, curated by Dana McClure, Ravenwood, Kerhonkson, NY
2024
That Feels Good! Labor As Pleasure, curated by Francisco Donoso, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Paper Planes, Art Gotham, New York, NY
Inhabit, with Abby Kasonik, Bond Millen Gallery, Richmond, VA
2023
No One World, with Ellen Dempsey, Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
Ditto, with Tobiah Mundt, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Walk A Mile, Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX
2022
Made In VA, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA
Group Exhibition, Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX
2021
In Her World, Voltz Clarke Gallery, New York, NY
2020
The Stars We Steer By, Curating Contemporary
Looking Out, Stay Home Gallery
Glean, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2019
Ship of Fellows, Rawls Museum, Courtland, VA
2018
Gather, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Hot Hot Hot, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Summertime, Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Fool, Juice Box Gallery, Denver Colorado
Mother, Mother, Studio IX, Charlottesville, VA
2017
At Home, Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
Overture, Pleat Gallery
New Waves, VA Museum of Contemporary Art, VA Beach
2016
Contemporary Art Now, The Women’s Caucus for Art, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA
You, Me, We, The Garage, Charlottesville, VA
Adherence, Tenth Street Warehouse, Charlottesville, VA
2015
Just Plane Rotten, Mist Gallery, Richmond, VA
2014
Material Matters, 10 Storehouse Row, Charleston, SC
You Are Surrounded, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Primary Urges, Honfleur Gallery, Washington, DC
2011
Contemporaries, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
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2025
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, J&E Berkley Foundation fellowship, Amherst, VA
Finalist, Bethesda Painting Awards
2022
Blue Apple Beach, Artist in Residence, Cartagena, Colombia
2021
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX
2019
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX
2018
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX
2017
Finalist, Bethesda Painting Awards
Semifinalist, Trawick Art Prize
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX
2014
Professional Fellowship Award in Painting, VMFA, Richmond, Virginia
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Painting Fellow, Amherst, VA
2013
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Painting Fellow, Amherst, VA
2005
VA Invitational Graduate Art Students Forum, 1708 Gallery, Richmond
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The Camby Hotel, Phoenix, AZ
The Forum Hotel, Charlottesville, VA
Cafe San Antonio, Getsemani, Cartagena, Colombia
Townhouse, Cartagena, Colombia
Blue Apple Beach, Tierra Bomba, Cartagena, Colombia
The Colony Hotel, West Palm Beach, FL
Stitch Design Company Partners, Charleston, SC
Park & Grove Restaurant, Charleston, SC
Emmeline Hotel, Charleston, SC
Boars Head Resort, Charlottesville, VA
Common House, Charlottesville, VA
Baker Motor Company, Charleston, SC
Capitol One, Richmond, VA
FS2, Charleston, SC
Tenth Street Warehouse, Charlottesville, VA
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I Like Your Work, Spring Catalog ‘Under A Sherbet Sky’, 2026
Maake Magazine, Issue 17, 2025
New Art Project, Issue 5, 2025
Canvas Rebel Magazine, July 2023 feature and interview
Wild Lands, Group Exhibition in Print, Curated by Gina Tuzzi
‘Gente Encerrada’ by Pablo Padilla, Cover Art, Hueders Libros
Friend of the Artist, Issue 5
Fresh Paint Magazine, International Issue 10
Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 13