About Shara E. Bailey
Originally from suburban Philadelphia, I draw inspiration from both
majestic natural landscapes and the quieter beauty found in unexpected
corners of the built environment. After earning a PhD in anthropology and becoming a professor at New York University, I began to explore painting as a way to reconcile my longing for the open skies of the American West with my life in the Northeast. My work spans natural and urban subjects, often highlighting overlooked or abandoned places and revealing their subtle, often surprising beauty.
Artist Statement
Born and raised in a suburb of Philadelphia, I knew from an early age that I longed to be elsewhere. My grandmother’s stories of road trips through Arizona and New Mexico sparked my imagination and awakened a longing for the open skies and vast landscapes of the American West.
That yearning eventually took me to Tempe, Arizona, where I spent a decade completing a PhD in anthropology. Ironically, that path led me back east to New York City, where I became a professor at NYU. Even back in the tri-state area, the red rocks, blue skies, and magnificent sunsets of Arizona stayed with me.
One evening, feeling melancholy on a bus ride home, I looked out the window and saw the sunset reflecting in the windows of a building across the Hudson River. In that moment, it struck me: beauty is where you find it.
In Arizona, beauty was everywhere—towering cumulus clouds above the Valley of the Sun, morning light spilling over the San Francisco Peaks. But in the suburbs of New Jersey, I had to look more closely. What I discovered is that beauty is all around us; sometimes, all it takes to see it is a shift in perspective—a pair of rose-colored glasses, perhaps.
My work reflects this duality. Some of my paintings capture the raw, natural beauty of dramatic landscapes and expansive skies. Others reflect my search for wonder within the built environment. I feel a quiet intimacy with abandoned buildings and forgotten structures—as if they’re whispering stories of their past. Through my art, I try to revive some of their faded glory, preserving their spirit on canvas.
Whether I’m painting a graffitied water tank in a desert suburb or a port-a-john glowing at sunrise, my goal is the same: to reveal the hidden beauty in overlooked places.
New Brunswick Art Salon 2025 Oil, Sculpture, and Mixed Media: “The Mundane in Motion”
website: www.sharabailey.com
Shows/ Exhibitions
- 2024 –Tewksbury Historical Society( Juried Show)
- 2024 – Basin Gallery It’s a Small F*cking World
- 2024 – SOMA Artist’s Studio Tour
- 2023 SOMA Artists‘ Studio Tour
- 2023 Tewksbury Historical Society (juried show) Winner: Best In show
- 2022 Tewskbury Historical Society (juried show) Winner: Built
- environment, Honerable mention: Built environment
- 2022 SOMA Artist’s tudio Tour, Maplewood, NJ
- 2021 Summit Downtown Arts Festival (juried show), Summit, NJ