Education

1995-97 M.F.A., Washington University in St. Louis, major in Painting

1990-94 B.A., College of Charleston, major in Studio Art

Recent Awards

2013 Regional Arts Commission Artist Support Grant

2011 EarthDance Farms Mission Award for Sustainable Practice in the Arts

Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2023      Conditions for Learning, Kingsbury Gallery, St. Louis, MO

2015 Sticks and Stones, Pearl Gallery, MO

2011 Leaf Litter, Special Display at The Missouri Botanical Garden’s Monsanto Research Center, MO

2010 each mountain as a valley, Fontbonne University Gallery, MO

2009 John Sarra: Tone Poems, Schmidt Art Center, IL

2008 Reflex, Space B Gallery, NY
Sad Smiles and Tears of Joy, PSTL, MO

2007 John Sarra: wash drawings, Ethical Society of St. Louis, MO

2005 Living Together, Covenant Theological Seminary, MO
Still Lifes and Landscapes, Space B Fine Arts, NY

2003 John Sarra: Paintings, Fontbonne University Gallery, MO

2000 Particular Space (New Faces), Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, MO

1999 (space) between us, Forest Park Gallery, MO

1998 John Sarra/You Shou-Jong, Mong Jyau Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

1997 Recent Work, The Gallery, University City Public Library, MO

1995 John Sarra, City Gallery, Charleston, SC

1993 Scenes from Mazyck Wraggborough, African American Art Gallery, Charleston, SC

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022     SLU Invitational Exhibition, McNamee Gallery, MO

2019     Layered Place, Curated by Charis Norell, Intersect Arts Center, MO

2018     Ether/Ore, The Gallery at Missouri Baptist University, MO

2018     Young Artists and their Teachers, Lindenwood University Gallery, MO

2016 Island of Misfit Toys, The Gallery at Missouri Baptist University, MO

2015 Everywhere and Elsewhere, Meramec Contemporary Art Gallery, MO

2014 Beyond Violet with the Emperor Scorpion, Des Lee Gallery, MO

2012 Three, John Sarra, Marg Corey, and Sylvester Jacobs, The Chapel, MO

LV SK8 Six, Get Up Gallery, Las Vegas, NV

Artist:Teacher, Kingsbury Gallery, St. Louis, MO

2011 Space B’s Greatest Hits: The Chelsea Years, Space B Gallery, NY

Milligan House Exhibition, Old Orchard Church, MO

A is for..., Center of Contemporary Art, Gina Alvarez, Curator, MO

2010 Regarding Place, St. Louis Artists Guild, Jana Harper, Curator, MO

wALL, Un progetto d'arte, SRISA Gallery of Contemporary Art, Firenze, IT

2009 Crescendo, Group Performance of music and painting, St. Louis, MO

2008 Out of the Box, curated by Paige Wideman, Main Street Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2007 New and Improved, Space B Gallery, NY

Transference, Koken Art Factory, St. Louis, MO

2006 Le Pouce et L'Orteil, The Francis Schaeffer Institute, Covenant Theological Seminary, MO

St. Louis Symphony Showcase, Cabanne House, Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, Curator, MO

2005 Contemporary Realism, Centre for the Living Arts, AL

2004 Space B Holiday Variety Show, Space B Gallery, NY

Space B Group Exhibition, Space B Fine Arts, NY

Thou My Vision, Nancy Hughes, Curator, Grace and Peace Fellowship, MO

2003 Regarding Objects, Olivia Lahs Gonzales, Curator, Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries, MO, and Innsbrook Conference Center, MO

2001 The Forest and the Trees, Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, MO

2000 Landscape, Desmond E. Lee Gallery, MO

Fresh Work, John Sarra, Jason Rucker, and Joseph Burwell, Halsey Gallery, SC

1999 paintings (plus), John Sarra, Christine Amick Sarra, and Cayce Lanham, Innsbrook Conference Center, MO

The Artist of Faith in the New Millennium, The Francis Schaeffer Institute, Covenant Theological Seminary, MO

1995 Annual Piccolo Spoleto Juried Exhibit, Guest Curator Diane Gingold, Charleston, SC

1994 Young Contemporaries, Guest Curator Eleanor Heartney, Halsey Gallery, SC

Special Projects

2010-present

Decomposition

What began as the casual observation of interesting aesthetics has evolved into a collection of nearly 200 images documenting the incidental, accidental, and collaborative compositions that are created as waste products accumulate in my kitchen compost bin. These photos help me to overcome my own compositional self-consciousness by providing "found" arrangements of colors, shapes, and textures. The images carry the memory of otherwise fleeting meals and seasons while developing an analogy between gardening and other forms of creative practice.

2010-present

Leaf Litter

During the fall of 2010, John Sarra began to employ a collection of artificial plants and flowers in the format of herbarium specimens. Each specimen was reclaimed after having been lost or discarded in John’s neighborhood. He received training in order to mount the original twelve specimens according to the standards of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the small envelope (seed packet) on each specimen sheet was supplied with a set of complimentary objects that had been found under similar circumstances. The portfolio was subsequently displayed in the Garden’s Monsanto Research Center. The collection continues to expand and evolve.

2000-present

Preserve/Restore/Remember

In September of 2000 John Sarra began the meticulous renovation and restoration of his one-hundred year old home in the City of St. Louis. The investigation of hidden systems and the renewal of surfaces have become indispensable to his artistic practice as templates for the thought and activity of art making.

2003-present

Live Oak

In December of 2003 John Sarra and his spouse, artist Christine Amick Sarra, began a collaborative work documenting the clear-cutting, re-growth, and evolving use of nearly two hundred acres of forest and adjoining wetlands outside of Charleston, SC. Each year they have built upon a collection of photographs, drawings, paintings, and writings investigating parallels between changes in the land and changes in human lives.

Professional Experience

2018-present    Director of Fine Arts, Westminster Christian Academy, St. Louis, MO

2014-present Chair of Visual Arts, Westminster Christian Academy, St. Louis, MO

2006-2014 Senior Lecturer, Painting Department, Washington University in St. Louis, MO

2001-2006 Lecturer, Painting Department, Washington University in St. Louis, MO

1997-2001 Lecturer (Adjunct), Painting Department, Washington University in St. Louis, MO

1997-2000 Adjunct Faculty, Painting and Drawing, Fontbonne University, St. Louis, MO

1996-2001 Woodworker, John Lesch Design, St. Louis, MO

1994-1996 Instructor, Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking, Summer Art Program, Colleton County School District, SC

1994-1995 Graphics Technician, Printmaking Department, College of Charleston, SC

1993-1994 Instructor, Drawing, Gibbes Museum School, Charleston, SC

Lectures / Panel Discussions

2015 Called to Creativity. Chapel presentation, Westminster Christian Academy, MO.

2012 Artist/Teacher. Panel Discussion in conjunction with the exhibition, Kingsbury Gallery, MO.

2010 A Structured Use: Emptiness and Opportunity in Creative Practice. Series of two public lectures, St. Louis Art Museum, MO

2009 Looking Down at the Sky, Gallery talk in conjunction with the exhibition John Sarra: Tone Poems, Schmidt Art Center, IL

2008 Moved by this Stillness, Classroom Lecture for “Ancient Worlds to Contemporary Practice”,Washington University in St. Louis, MO

2007 Spirit and Flesh: The Language of Painting in Oil and Ink. Series of two public lectures, St. Louis Art Museum

Gardens and Gazing Stones: Gongshi as Templates for Creative Action. Public lecture accompanying the exhibition John Sarra: wash drawings. St. Louis Ethical Society, MO

2006 Creation, Production, and the Necessity of Change. Public lecture with Washington University graduate and undergraduate Painting Majors, in conjunction with the exhibition curated by John Sarra and Robin Clark, St. Louis Art Museum.

Focus on Philip Guston. Series of two public lectures accompanying the exhibition curated by John Sarra and Robin Clark, St. Louis Art Museum.

2005 Living in the Garden: Color and the Infinite, Classroom Lecture for “Ancient Worlds to Contemporary Practice”, Washington University in St. Louis, MO

2003 Color in Contemporary American Painting, Keynote Speaker for the International Color Conference, Fu Jen University, Taipei, Taiwan

Color Culture in Taiwan, Panel Discussion as a part of the International Color Conference, Fu Jen University, Taipei, Taiwan

The Calligraphy of Fu Shen, Panel Discussion, Saint Louis Art Museum, MO

Living in the Garden: Asian Aesthetic, Classroom Lecture for “Ancient Worlds to Contemporary Practice”, Washington University in St. Louis, MO

2000 Fresh Work, Panel Discussion in conjunction with the exhibition, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC