Sarah McEneaney (born January 31, 1955, in Munich, West Germany) is an American artist, painter, and community activist who lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Working primarily in egg tempera her paintings are characterized by their autobiographical content, detailed brushwork, and brilliant color. McEneaney's intimate subject matter focuses on daily scenes from her home, studio, travels, and neighborhood. Her work is included in public collections such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and she has received numerous grants and awards. McEneaney is also active in community work, including the formation of the Callowhill Neighborhood Association in 2001, and the co-founding of the Reading Viaduct Project in 2003.
Career McEneaney is represented by Locks Gallery in Philadelphia and Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York City. In 2004, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia held a mid-career exhibition of her work accompanied by a fully illustrated publication authored by Chief Curator Ingrid Schaffner. Individual works were also discussed by 11 other contributors, including Sarah McEneaney, art historian and former Philadelphia Museum of Art curator Susan Rosenberg, artist Sheila Pepe, and poet Nathalie Anderson.
Her work is in numerous public collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art,Philadelphia Museum of Art – Collections Mills College Art Museum,Art&Education Mills College Art Museum the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,PAFA: Sarah McEneaney- Sioux Falls Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Woodmere Art Museum, Bryn Mawr College, Nueberger Museum at SUNY Purchase, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Free Library of Philadelphia,Sarah McEneaney CV/Bio – Tibor de Nagy and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College.About Face: Self Portraiture from the Permanent Collection at the Hood Museum
Select exhibitions Studio Living (2014) Tibor de Nagy, New York, solo exhibitionRoberta Smith on Sarah McEneaney: Studio Living for the New York Times "First Look", (2013) Philadelphia Museum of ArtPMA: First Look Trestletown, (2013) Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, solo exhibitionHidden City: The Viaduct at the Heart of Her Life and Art "The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World", The Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ArtsPAFA: The Female Gaze Sarah McEneaney, (2004) Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, solo exhibition "Memory and Mastery" (2000), List Gallery at Swarthmore College, solo exhibitionList Gallery Past Exhibitions "Sarah McEneaney" (1990) Morris Gallery at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, solo exhibition
Recognition In 1993, McEneaney received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and has received subsequent grants in 2001, 2002, and 2008.Pew Center for Arts and Heritage – Fellows In 2000, she received a prestigious Painters & Sculptors Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation.Joan Mitchell Foundation In 2007, she was honored by her alma mater with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.Sarah McEneaney CV
Community work McEneaney’s community work includes forming the Callowhill Neighborhood Association in Philadelphia with neighbors in 2001, and co-founded the Reading Viaduct Project in 2003. The goal of the project was to preserve and renovate the Reading Viaduct, a stretch of abandoned railway that carried trains into Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal for almost 100 years, creating the neighborhood’s first park. Reading Viaduct Project merged with Friends of the Rail Park in late 2013 to form a nonprofit organization advocating for the park. McEneaney continues to act on their board of directors.
References
External links Sarah McEneaney 2004 Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia Exhibition Sarah McEneaney on artnet "Beer with a Painter", Hyperallergic interview 2015