STATEMENT

In a world that too often insists on inevitability and separation, Boyts Yoder’s paintings are playful, yet resolute, refusals of these false assurances and fixedness.  Using a visual vocabulary of emblems she has generated over time, each work fluently and joyfully articulates how form can evade our need for categorization.  Can definition be captured and confounded at the same time?  Instead of frustration, is it freedom?

What emerges from these questions are welcoming, mischievous and engaging spaces for imaginative play, a celebratory take on color and material, and an invitation to open up. In this context, Boyts Yoder sees painting as a hopeful, optimistic act, and the mode of abstraction as an exploratory and generative state of being.



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

*

Curriculum Vitae *

  • B. 1980 Fort Worth, Texas

    MFA 2006 Painting, James Madison University

    BFA 2003 Painting, Eastern New Mexico University

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

Interviews

Podcasts

  • All is surface- finding inspiration for art while mothering with Sarah Boyts Yoder.

    Listen