CV
EDUCATION
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Master of Fine Arts, May 1994
Concentration: Painting
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Visual Arts May 1989
Concentration: Visual Arts
AWARDS AND HONORS
Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship Finalist Award, April 2019
City of Chicago Public Art Commission Edgewater Library
Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, Illinois, February 2015.
3Arts Award Nominee, Teaching artist category. 3Arts Chicago, March 2014.
Chicago Artists’ Assistance Program Grant,
City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, Illinois, August 2010.
Chicago Artists’ Assistance Program Grant,
City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, Illinois, January 2008
Teaching Assistantship, Studio Art Centers International, Florence, Italy, September 1994 – July 1995.
Merit Scholarship, Master of Fine Arts Program,
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 1992 - May 1994.
Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, November 1991.
Departmental Honors, Department of Visual Arts,
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, May 1989
Purchase Prize, Department of Visual Arts,
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, March 1989.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, Counting Threads, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, July – November 2022.
Northeastern Illinois University Ronald Williams Library, Diversity within a Microcosm: Varieties of Expression in Japanese American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May – August 2022
Alma Art and Interiors, Threaded Together, Chicago, Illinois, April -July 2022
New England Quilt Museum, String Theory (traveling exhibition), Lowell, Massachusetts, April – July 2022
Iowa Quilt Museum, Here Comes the Sun, Curated by Joe Cunningham, Winterset, Iowa, November 2021 – January 2022
Iowa Quilt Museum, String Theory, Curated by Lindsay McCray, Wintersett, Iowa, December 2020 - March 2021
Hyde Park Art Center, Not Just Another Pretty Face, an exhibition of commissioned work by Chicago Artists, Chicago, Illinois, December 2019 - March 2020
50,000 Feet – Space Between the Lines, Chicago, Illinois, December 2019 – January 2020
Ralph Arnold Gallery Loyola University of Chicago, Past Tense, Chicago, Illinois, September - October 2019
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, Water, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, August - November 2019
Entoten at Gallery Codocco, Craft from America, Tokyo Japan, May 2019
Hyde Park Art Center, (sub)Urban, Chicago, Illinois, March - April 2019
Circle Contemporary, Community in Color. Chicago, Illinois, January - February 2018
LillStreet Gallery, the Post Modern Quilt. Chicago, Illinois, May 2017 - July 2017.
Hyde Park Art Center, Not Just Another Pretty Face, an exhibition of commissioned work by Chicago Artists. Chicago, Illinois, December 2016 - March 2017.
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Found/Made, curated by Roderick Kiracofe, San Jose, California, July - November 2015.
Indiana University Northwest Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sarah Nishiura Quilts, Gary, Indiana, February - March 2015.
International Quilt Week Yokohama, Modern Quilts from North America, featured exhibition in the annual quilt festival, Pacifico Yokohama, Japan, November 2014.
Room 406, Transcendent Objects Ryota Aoki, Lilith Rockett, Sarah Nishiura, Chicago, Illinois, September 2014
LillStreet Gallery, Familiar Bedfellows: New work by Matthew Groves and Sarah Nishiura, Chicago, Illinois, July - August 2014.
Hyde Park Art Center, Fast Forward, Rewind, Play. Curatorial lab exploring the theme "Circle in a Square", with James Kao, Mie Kongo, and Hyde Park Art Center quilt students. Chicago, Illinois, June 2014 .
Hyde Park Art Center, Not Just Another Pretty Face, an exhibition of commissioned work by Chicago Artists. Chicago, Illinois, December 2013 - March 2014.
Tall Grass Arts Association, Material World, Park Forest, Illinois, June-July 2013.
Hyde Park Art Center, Abstracting the Seam, Chicago, Illinois, May - September 2013.
Governor's State University Gallery, Ways of Making, University Park, Illinois, June 2012.
Jackson Junge Gallery, Element Flux, Chicago, Illinois, October 2011.
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Scrap Art, San Jose, California, August – October 2011
Lake County Discovery Museum (in conjunction with the Northern Illinois Quilt Fest) Quilt Treasures: Pieces of History, Wauconda, Illinois, July – September 2011.
Art Igloo, Abacus Asleep, an on-line installation with James Kao and Mie Kongo, www.artigloo.com, February - March 2011
Chicago Printmakers’ Collaborative, 21st Annual Small Print Show, Chicago, Illinois, December 2010 – February 2011
Koehnline Museum of Art, No Place Like Home, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, Illinois, October - November 2010
WomanMade Gallery, Her Way with Print, Chicago, Illinois, July – August 2010.
ARC Gallery, Materiality, Chicago, Illinois, March 2010
Chicago Printmakers’ Collaborative, 20th Annual Small Print Show, Chicago, Illinois, December 2009.
Sarah Doyle Gallery, Brown University, Crooked Mile, Quilts by Sarah Nishiura, Solo Exhibition, Providence, Rhode Island, April 2009.
Wagner Gallery, Wagner College, Matthew Groves, Figurative Ceramics, Sarah Nishiura Works on Paper, Staten Island, New York, October 2007.
Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Beyond Boundaries, national touring exhibition, various locations, October 2006 – May 2008 .
Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, 15th Annual Small Print Show Chicago, Illinois, December 2004 - February 2005.
3rd Floor Gallery, Chicago Art Open, Chicago Artist’s Coalition and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, Illinois, November 1999.
Klein Artworks, 3rd Occasional Survey of Chicago Abstraction, Chicago, Illinois, December 1998.
Inside Art Gallery, solo exhibition, Chicago, Illinois, April – June 1997
South Shore Cultural Center Gallery, Women of Vision 1997, Chicago Park District, Chicago, Illinois, March - April 1997.
S.A.C.I. Gallery, Sarah Nishiura, Dipinti, solo exhibition, Florence, Italy, June - July 1995.
S.A.C.I. Gallery Mostra dei Docenti, Florence, Italy, December 1994.
Temple University Rome Art from the Faculty of American University Programs in Italy, Rome, Italy, October 1994.
RETAIL REPRESENTATION and AFFILIATION
July 2016 - Present
Entoten, San Diego, California
https://www.entoten.com/
PRESS and PUBLICATIONS
Midwest Living Magazine, 7 Modern Midwest Quilters Taking the Art to a Whole New Level, by Kim Bates, March 2022, https://www.midwestliving.com/lifestyle/modern-midwest-quilters
Uppercase Magazine, Art Quilts, October 2021
Quiltfolk Magazine: Illinois, Feature: Sarah Nishiura, April 2021
Patchwork Professional: Quilt & Textilkunst, Porträt: Sarah Nishiura, Traditionelle Techniken modern interpretiert, p 42-47, January 2021
Vogue (online), Meet the Textile Artists Fundraising for Voting Access This Election Season and Beyond, By Liam Hess, September 22, 2020, https://www.vogue.com/article/textile-artist-fundraiser-movement-voter-project
OkanArts, Sarah Nishiura, Born to Quilt, May 2018
https://okanarts.com/sarah-nishiura/
Riksha Magazine, Asian American Creative Arts in Action, Volume 2. Fall 2018
http://riksha.com/welcome-riksha-v2-2/
Curated Quilts, Issue 1, Linear, October 2017
Entoten Blog, The Fabrics of a Craft: Quiltmaker Sarah Nishiura, July 2017
https://www.entoten.com/2017/07/26/21465/
Asian American Art Oral History Project, Sarah Nishiura Interview by Larry Villanueava, http://via.library.depaul.edu/oral_his_series/89/
Not Just Another Pretty Face 2016, Exhibition Catalogue, Hyde Park Art Center, December 2016
Crafty Planner, Podcast guest, Episode 88, October 10, 2016.
http://www.craftyplanner.com/2016/10/10/sarah-nishiura/
Root and Star, The In Between, Issue 3, May/June 2016
Food and Wine Magazine Online, Best Artisan Blankets, Julia Heffelfinger, February 2015, http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/best-artisan-blankets
Patchwork Quilt Tsushin, #181, Sarah Nishiura, profile, Tokyo, Japan, August 2014
Familiar Bedfellows, exhibition catalogue, Tracey Morrison, LillStreet Art Center, July 2015 http://issuu.com/lillstreet/docs/bedfellows_catalogue_final_issuu_2
Handful of Salt, Chicago Hope: Room 406, Regina Connell, September 16, 2014, http://www.handfulofsalt.com/chicago-hope-room406/
Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making: From Color to Quilting: 10 Design Workshops by Your Favorite Teachers, Lucky Spool Media, June 2014
Not Just Another Pretty Face 2013, Exhibition Catalogue, Hyde Park Art Center, December 2013
Studio KotoKoto blog, Quilts by Sarah Nishiura, Beauty in Pattern, Kathryn Pombriant Manzella, April 14, 2013
http://www.studiokotokoto.com/2013/04/16/quilts-by-sarah-nishiura-beauty-in-pattern/
World of Quilts, Japan, a supplement to Down Under Quilts, issue 158, June 2013
Handful of Salt, Noticed: Sarah Nishiura, Kathryn Clark, February 17, 2013
http://www.handfulofsalt.com/noticed-sarah-nishiura/
Daily Candy, Sarah Nishiura Makes Future Heirlooms, February 13, 2013 http://www.dailycandy.com/chicago/article/142925/Sarah-Nishiura-Quilts
Martha Stewart Crafts Department Blog, Inspiration Board : The January Issue of Living! January 7, 2013
http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2013/01/the-january-issue-of-living.html
Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Our Finds, Liz Logan, January 2013
Chicago Magazine, Domestica, Home and Garden Blog, Quilter Extraordinaire - Sarah Nishiura, Alice Oglethorpe, December 26, 2012, http://www.chicagohomemag.com/Chicago-Home/Domestica/December-2012/Quilter-Extraordinaire-Sarah-Nishiura/
Queen Anne and Magnolia News, The artful business of getting things of beauty to market, Mike Dillon, August 12, 2012
http://www.magnolianews.net/main.asp?SectionID=26&SubSectionID=337&ArticleID=33319
Fibercopia, July 26, 2012
http://fibercopia.com/2012/07/26/sarah-nishiura/
Studio KotoKoto blog, Elevating the Humble Craft of Quilting, Kathryn Pombriant Manzella, July 24, 2012
http://www.studiokotokoto.com/2012/07/24/sarah-nishiura-elevating-the-humble-craft-of-quilting/
Make It Better, Creativity + Passion = Bliss? Making meaning - and maybe happiness - through art, Liz Logan, January 2012
http://issuu.com/makeitbetter/docs/jandigitaledition
San Jose Mercury News, Complex Threads, Kathryn Loosli Pritchett, October 8, 2011
Staten Island Advance, Virtual Surreality, Michael Fressola, October 11, 2007
http://www.silive.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2007/10/virtual_surreality.html
SELECTED TEACHING, LECTURES, PROJECTS, and EVENTS
Hyde Park Art Center, Teaching Artist, Chicago, Illinois, July 2009 - Present.
Make Do Quilting, Online course which explored quilting with limited resources via quilt and textile history.
Quilt Making, a practical and historical course on quilt design and technique.
Practice Makes, a course focused on developing studio practice across different art media.
Anyone Can Sew, an introduction to hand and machine sewing techniques
Embroidery, hand embroidery for beginners
Math, Quilts, and Art, A panel discussion featuring Sarah Nishiura, Jacquie Gerring, and Michelle Grabner, hosted by the Saint Kate Arts Hotel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Cedarburg, WI, October 2022
Reconsider the Grid, A workshop, Wisconsin Museum or Quilts and Textiles, Cedarburg, WI, October 2022
Visiting Artist, Milwaukee area High Schools, sponsored by the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Textiles, conducted workshops in local high schools focusing on the geometry of quilts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, Grafton, Wisconsin, October 2022
Soft Bulk Episode 19, Guest Speaker with hosts Heidi Parkes, Zak Foster, and Luke Haynes, October 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KZ3ENNMUo
Potential of Pattern, 5 day quilting workshop, Shakerag Workshops, Sewanee, Tennessee, June 2022
Guild Presentations 2022: Riverwalk Quilters (Naperville, Illinois), Pride of the Prairie Quilt Guild (Naperville, Illinois), Chicago Quilters’ Guild (Chicago, Illinois), Detroit Metro Modern Quilt Guild (Oak Park, Michigan), Portland Modern Quilt Guild (Portland, Oregon), Lakeside Quilters (Chicago, Illinois)
Abstract Piecing with Sherri Lynn Wood, Guest Speaker, The Rhythmic Grid, March 2021
Textile x Science group of the Textile Society of America, Guest Speaker, December 2021
Tatter Blue Library, Brooklyn, New York, Instructor Quilt Primer Series Applique Workshop, October 2021
Iowa Quilt Museum, Wintersett, Iowa, Lecture “Strings”, February 2021
Make Do Quilting with Sherri Lynn Wood, Guest Speaker, January 2021
Guild Presentations and Workshops 2021: Seattle Modern Quilt Guild (Seattle, Washington), Northern Star Quilters Guild (Somers, New York), South Bay Modern Quilt Guild (Santa Cruz, California), Mukilteo Lighthouse Quilting Guild (Mukilteo, Washington), Crystal Lake Modern Quilt Guild (Crystal Lake, Illinois).
Textiles for MVP, participated in effort to raise money for MVP an organization which funded Grass Roots Voter projects in 5 key swing states in the 2020 election. Auctioned a quilt with 100% of funds going directly to MVP. https://www.vogue.com/article/textile-artist-fundraiser-movement-voter-project, September 2020
College Art Association Annual Conference Conceptualizing Art and Class: Socioeconomic Factors Informing Contemporary Creative Practice, Panel Member, February 2020
Guild Presentations and Workshops 2020: Chicago Modern Quilting Guild (Chicago Illinois), Lakeside Quilters Guild (Chicago, Illinois), North Shore Quilters Guild (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Colorado Quilting Council (Denver, Colorado)
New Trier High School, Visiting Artist, Winnetka, Illinois, April 2019
QuiltCon, Annual Conference of the Modern Quilt Guild, Nashville, Tennessee, February 2019
Workshops: Reconsider the Grid, Deconstructing Design
Hyde Park Arts Center Teaching artist Residency, Chicago, Illinois, January – February 2019
Lill Street Art Center, Instructor, Chicago, Illinois, September 2010 – 2019.
First-time Quilting - beginning quilting
Quilt Projects - advanced quilting
Advanced Piecing techniques
Workshops on Hand Quilting, Strip Piecing, Curved Piecing, Foundation Piecing
School of the Art Institute of Chicago Homan Square, Guest Speak, Guest Instructor, Storytelling and Quilts Class July 2018
Workshop: Hand Quilting
Lecture: Quilts and untold stories
Project Prospera, Crafting Cutures, lead artist facilitating a quilt "show and tell" and the making of a community quilt as a part of Threading the Narrative of RE:location , a workshop reflecting on the craft and histories of African American Quilters and Japanese Americans in Chicago. Midwest Buddhist Temple, Chicago, Illinois, May 2017
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Guest Speaker, Freshman Foundations Class, May 2017
Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, Lecture and Trunk show: Sarah Nishiura, Handwork and Design, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, September 2016.
QuiltCon, Annual Conference of the Modern Quilt Guild, Austin, Texas, February 2015, Full day workshops: Consider Curves and Foundation Piecing
Edgewater Library Public Art Community Quilt Project, A community quilt, to be permanently installed at the new LEED certified Edgewater branch of the Chicago Public Library, was made of recycled materials and stitches sewn by the community who use the library. Free lessons on quilt making history and sewing were offered in a series of workshops at local schools, community centers, and other locations in exchange for contributions from the neighborhood. Chicago, Illinois, March - August 2015
Circle in a Square Community Quilt Installation. Part of the Hyde Park Art Center's Fast Forward, Rewind, Play, Curatorial Lab, approximately 50 alumni of HPAC Quilting classes sewed blocks to be included in an installation which helped to illustrate the possibilities of a traditional design motif. Combining student work with the work of other local artists who employ media other than textiles, this show highlighted connections that exist between communities, materials, and individual artists. Chicago, Illinois, June 2014
Martha Stewart American Made: Audience Choice Nominee. October 2013
Drummond Montessori Community Quilt Project: Taught 4th, 5th, and 6th graders about the history of quilting, and sewing techniques needed to piece a full sized classroom quilt. Chicago, Illinois, February 2012
Handmade for Japan: Donated a quilt to this international auction of art and craft works. Over $75,000 was raised for Global Giving’s disaster relief efforts in Japan following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, March 2011
Hyde Park Art Center Community Quilt Workshop: Designed, organized and led a community quilting event which resulted in a finished quilt which was presented to HPAC board members. Chicago, Illinois, April 2010
African Festival of the Arts Quilt Talk: Participated in event which brought together local quilters who shared their work and told their stories. Chicago, Illinois, September 2009
Brown University, Visiting Artist. Lectured and gave critiques to advanced and beginning painters. Providence, Rhode Island, April 2009.
Studio Art Centers International, Instructor, Intermediate Painting, undergraduate level. Teaching Assistant, Undergraduate Level Beginning and Advanced Drawing and Painting Courses, Florence, Italy, September 1994 – July 1995.
COLLECTIONS
City of Chicago Public Art Collection, Ozinga Corporation, Capital One Corporation, Brown University, and numerous private collections.