About the Artist
Sandra Charles is an oil painter who believes you should never give up on your dreams. Her work focuses on the culture, history and social issues that affect African American women. Sandra has painted all her life but began her career as a batik fiber artist. She returned to school in 2011 and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree in painting from the University of Louisville. After graduation she realized painting was her passion and retired to concentrate on her art.
CV
Education
2015 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting, University of Louisville
Awards/Grants
2024 Efroymson Emerging Contemporary Artist Lecture Series and Residency, University of Evansville, Evansville, KY
2021 Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, NY, Sponsored by Great Meadows Foundation, Louisville, KY
2019 Great Meadows Foundation Venice Biennale Dedicated Travel Grant, Louisville, KY
2017 Hadley Creatives, Community Foundation of Louisville
2017 Mellon-Oberst Family Award
2016 Kentucky Foundation of Women Summer Residency Grant
Exhibitions
2024
Seeing Her, Solo Exhibit, Melvin Peterson Gallery, University of Evansville, Evansville, IN
Set Ablaze, Guest Artist Exhibit, Pyro Gallery, Louisville, KY
Chromophobia, Sharpin Nicolas Art Project, Jeffersontown, KY
Cultural Perspectives, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, KY
2023
Perspectives 2023, Moreman Gallery, Louisville, KY
Our Votes, Our Voices, The Sam & Adele Golden Gallery, New Berlin, NY
Louisville Visual Art Association Open Studio Exhibit, Cressman Art Gallery, Louisville, KY
Rounding The Circle: The Mary and Al Shands Collection, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Celebrating The Black Experience, Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, Louisville, KY
2022
The Reality of Our Essence, KMAC Musuem , Louisville, KY
75th Anniversary University of Louisville Hite Art Exhibition, Cressman Art Gallery, Louisville, KY
Artful Connections, Owensboro Museum of Art, Owensboro, KY
Real Space, Art Gowanus Group Exhibit, Brooklyn, New York
2021
Artist-in-Residency Group Exhibit, Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, New York
A Howl is a Prayer, Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery, Georgetown University, Georgetown, KY
The Art of Being Black, The Art Center of the Bluegrass, Danville, KY
2020
African American Women: Celebrating Diversity with Art, Kore Gallery, Louisville, KY
Black Before I Was Born, Roots101 African American Museum, Louisville, KY
BallotBox, 21c Gallery and Louisville Metro Hall, Louisville, KY
2019
Imagined Monuments, Louisville Visual Art Association Invitational, Louisville Metro Hall, Louisville, KY
The Art of Elmer Lucille Allen, Sandra Charles and Barbara Mosley Tyson, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany, IN
Retrospective: Batiks, Paintings and Portraits, Roberta Marx, Gallery, Louisville, KY
2018
African American Art Exhibit, Roanne H. Victor Gallery, Actors Theatre, Louisville, KY
Kentucky Foundation of Women Summer Residency Grant Art Exhibit, Art Sanctuary Gallery, Louisville, KY
Smoketown Wheelhouse Art Project, Public Art, Louisville, KY
15 The First Hadley Creative Exhibition, KMAC Museum, Louisville, KY
Portraits of Us, Solo Exhibit, Wayside Expressions Gallery, Louisville, KY
2017
African American Art Exhibit, Roanne H. Victor Gallery, Louisville, KY
2015
BFA Thesis Exhibit, Schneider Hall Galleries, Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY