STATEMENT
In a world that all too often insists on inevitability and separateness, Boyts Yoder’s paintings are playful refusals of these false assurances and fixedness. Using a visual lexicon of symbols she has generated over time, each work articulates how joyfully form can evade our need for categorization. What emerges are welcoming 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 a generative and exploratory 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
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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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Realm, Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, September 2023
Emblem, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2021
Meantime, Jagg Gallery, Key West, FL, 2021
Look At All There Is To Have, Saint Cloche, Sydney, Australia, 2019
Fleet, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2019
bathymetry, Sawhill Memorial Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 2018
Trove, Charleston Music Hall, Charleston, SC, 2018
Never No Horizons, Beverly Street Studio, Staunton, VA, 2018
Forget Your Perfect Offering, Studio IX, Charlottesville, VA, 2017
Elbows On The Table, Welcome Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, 2015
A Single Jumpy Heart, The Garage, Charlottesville, VA, 2015
Light In June, Blenheim Vineyards, Charlottesville, VA, 2015
Insist/Resist, Amuse Restaurant at VMFA, Richmond, VA, 2014
Nothing Passes, This Too Shall Pass, Jericho Gallery, Charleston, SC 2013
Merge/Emerge, The Real Estate Studio, Charleston, SC, 2012
Reunion, Flagship Gallery, Charleston, SC, 2011
Nice Work, Jericho Gallery, Charleston, SC, 2011
Reveal/Recover, Spark Gallery & Studios, Charleston, SC, 2008
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That Feels Good! Labor As Pleasure, curated by Francisco Donoso, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesvile, VA 2024
Paper Planes, Art Gotham, New York, NY, 2024
Inhabit, with Abby Kasonik, Bond Millen Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2024
No One World, with Ellen Dempsey, Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN, 2023
Ditto, with Tobiah Mundt, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, 2023
Walk A Mile, Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX, 2023
Made In VA, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA 2022
Group Exhibition, Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX, 2022
In Her World, Voltz Clarke Gallery, New York, NY, 2021
The Stars We Steer By, Curating Contemporary, 2020
Looking Out, Stay Home Gallery, 2020
Glean, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2020
Ship of Fellows, Rawls Museum, Courtland, VA, 2019
Gather, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2018
Hot Hot Hot, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2018
Summertime, Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, 2018
Fool, Juice Box Gallery, Denver Colorado, 2018
Mother, Mother, Studio IX, Charlottesville, VA, 2018
At Home, Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN, 2017
Overture, Pleat Gallery, 2017
New Waves, VA Museum of Contemporary Art, VA Beach, 2017
Contemporary Art Now, The Women’s Caucus for Art, Target Gallery, Alexandria, VA, 2016
You, Me, We, The Garage, Charlottesville, VA, 2016
Adherence, Tenth Street Warehouse, Charlottesville, VA, 2016
Just Plane Rotten, Mist Gallery, Richmond, VA 2015
Material Matters, 10 Storehouse Row, Charleston, SC, 2014
You Are Surrounded, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, 2014
Primary Urges, Honfleur Gallery, Washington, DC, 2014
Contemporaries, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, 2011
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Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, J&E Berkley Foundation fellowship, Amherst, VA 2025
Blue Apple Beach, Artist in Residence, Cartagena, Colombia, 2022
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX, 2021
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX, 2019
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX, 2018
Finalist, Bethesda Painting Awards, 2018
Semifinalist, Trawick Art Prize, 2017
100W Corsicana, Artist in Residence, Corsicana, TX, 2017
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Painting Fellow, Amherst, VA, 2014
Professional Fellowship Award in Painting, VMFA, Richmond, 2014
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Painting Fellow, Amherst, VA, 2013
VA Invitational Graduate Art Students Forum, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, 2005
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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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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