Bio

Sandra Bloodworth is a visual artist with a career that spans decades, exploring themes of portraiture, memory, and the human experience. Known for her thoughtful and emotionally resonant work, Bloodworth has created a diverse body of art that reflects her observations of the world around her.

Throughout her career, Bloodworth has exhibited widely across New York, New Jersey, and the Southern United States. Her art has taken many forms, from traditional portraits to larger-scale, site-specific works. While her work often reflects on individual lives and stories, it also engages with broader societal themes, capturing moments of cultural and personal significance.

In 2020, when the MTA sought a way to honor employees lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloodworth conceived and designed TRAVELS FAR in her studio, offering a moving tribute to those individuals. The memorial, which featured portraits based on family-contributed photographs, was realized with the support of a team she led and displayed across digital screens in subway stations and Moynihan Train Hall, providing a poignant tribute.

Bloodworth’s career at MTA Arts & Design spanned 36 years, during which time she contributed to numerous initiatives that brought art into public spaces. While her work there is an important chapter of her journey, it is her ongoing artistic practice that has been central to her development and recognition as a visual artist.

In recognition of her significant contributions, Bloodworth has received numerous honors, including the 2024 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal for her visionary impact. Other awards include the Fund for the City of New York’s Sloan Public Service Award (2005), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) George S. Lewis Award (2015), and the Artist’s Fellowship Gary Melchers Medal (2015).

Bloodworth is also a published author. She co-authored Contemporary Art Underground (2024) with Cheryl Hageman, published by the Monacelli Press, and is the co-author of New York’s Underground Art Museum (2014) and Along the Way (2007), with William Ayres.

 

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EDUCATION

MFA in Painting, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Teaching Fellow)

MA in Art Education, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS

BS in Art Education, Mississippi College, Clinton, MS (President’s List)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019    Garden Party, SOMA New Art Gallery, Cape May, NJ

2016    Intimate Feasts, William Ris East Gallery, Jamesport, LI

2014    Six in the City, SOMA NewArt Gallery, Cape May, NJ

2012    Urban Principals, SOMA New Art Gallery, Cape May, NJ

2011    At Last, Spring, William Ris Gallery, Stone Harbor, NJ

            Intimate Feasts, Cape May Winery, Cape May, NJ

            Intimate Feasts, Mi Casa Su Casa, Charleston, MS

2009    Selected works, William Ris Gallery, Stone Harbor, NJ        

            Intimate Feasts, Benjamin N. Cordozo School of Law, New York, NY

2008    Intimate Feasts, SOMA New Art Gallery, Cape May, NJ

2007    Subway Stories: Tales from the New York Subway, SOMA NewArt Gallery, Cape May, NJ

            New York Icons, SOMA New Art Gallery, Cape May, NJ

            Festa della Vita, The Gallery at Blue Streak Wine & Spirits, Long Island City, NY

1992    Subway Stories, New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn, NY

1991    In Person, Dance Theater Workshop, DTW Gallery, New York, NY

1990    Reverence, Riverside Church, The Cloister Gallery, New York, NY

1988    Selected Works, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Beth Abraham Satellite Gallery, Bronx, NY

1987    North by South, Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014    Tableau, Pierro Gallery, South Orange, NJ

2013    Feast of the Eye: The Art of Food, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, N

2010    Four Perspectives, SOMA New Art Gallery, Cape May, NJ

2008    Selected works, Art Now Fair, Miami Beach, FL

2008    Three Square Women and a Monochromatic Man, The Art Trust, West Chester, PA

2007    Still Life, Nicholas Rizzo Fine Art, Chatham, NJ

2001    Selected works, New York Mercantile Exchange, OIA, NY       

1991    Commission A Portrait, PS 122 Gallery, New York, NY

1987    Oxford Influences, The University of Mississippi, Fine Art Gallery, Oxford, MS (Invitational)

1987    Artists from the Studio in a School, Artist Space, New York, NY

1985    Selected works, Radius Gallery, New York, NY

1984    United States Fine Art Competition, Florida State Capitol, Tallahassee, FL

1983    The Competitive of Mississippi, The Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS

1982    Selected works, Ephebi-Art for the 21st Century, Washington, DC

1981    People, Figures and Faces, First Women’s Bank, New York, NY

1978    Selected works, Southern Watercolor Society’s 2nd Annual Exhibition, Columbus, GA

            Selected works, 13th Annual Central South Art Exhibit, The Parthenon, Nashville, TN

            Selected works, 16th Annual Edgewater Juried Exhibition, Gulfport, MS.

AWARDS

2024    Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, Municipal Art Society, New York, NY

2015    George S. Lewis Award, American Institute of Architects (AIA), New York, NY

            Gari Melchers Award, Artists Fellowship, New York, NY          

2013    Poetry Society of America, Honoree, Annual Gala, New York, NY

2005   Sloan Public Service Award, Fund for the City of New York, New York, NY

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2000-21           Adjunct Professor, New York University New York, NY, Department of Art and Art Professions

1978-1980       Teaching Fellow, Florida State University. Tallahassee, FL

1977                Art Instructor, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS

1975-77           Adjunct Professor, University of Mississippi, Jackson, MS

1973-1975      Instructor, Jefferson Davis State Junior College, Brewton, AL

PRESENTATIONS

TEDx Cape May, Recreating Public Places, Congress Hall, Cape May, NJ

Applied Brilliance, Beauty, The Mission Inn, Sonoma, CA

The Noyes Museum, Art at Night: Artist Talk, Oceanville, NJ

Applied Brilliance, The Future of Imagination, Reif Larsen/Sandra Bloodworth, New York, NY

PUBLICATIONS

Contemporary Art Underground: MTA Arts & Design New York, co-author Cheryl Hageman, Monacelli Press, 2024.

New York Subway Architecture & Design Map, co-author Linda Tonn, Blue Crow Media, 2019.

New York's Underground Art Museum: MTA Arts & Design, co-author William Ayres, Monacelli Press, October 28, 2014.

Best Practices for Integrating Art in Capital Projects, co authors, Pallas Lombardi, Maya Emsden, Mary Priester, and David Allen, American Public Transportation Association, October 2013.

Along the Way: MTA Arts for Transit, co-author William Ayres, Monacelli Press, November 2006.

Nineteenth Century Magazine, Terra Cotta Incognita: Turn-of-the Century Ceramic Art in the New York Subway, Volume 11, Num. 3 and 4 (1992); 23-28.