Shara E. Bailey is a contemporary painter originally from suburban Philadelphia whose work is rooted in both the natural world and the overlooked corners of the built environment. After earning a PhD in anthropology and establishing a career as a professor at New York University, Bailey turned to painting as a medium to reconnect with the vast skies and rugged landscapes of the American West while residing in the Northeast. Her practice frequently examines abandoned structures, urban scenes, and everyday locales, uncovering unexpected beauty through her precise use of color, light, and perspective. Bailey has participated in numerous exhibitions and juried shows throughout New Jersey, including the SOMA Artists’ Studio Tour and the Tewksbury Historical Society exhibitions, where she was notably awarded Best in Show and recognized for her depictions of the Built Environment.
Biography
Shara Bailey is a representational artist whose work examines light and atmosphere as central subjects. Working between landscape and urban imagery, she focuses on how light can shift ordinary environments into moments of quiet clarity and visual interest.
Her perspective has been shaped by time spent in both the American Southwest and on the East Coast. The openness of desert landscapes and the density of city life both continue to inform how she approaches composition and mood in her paintings.
Bailey is currently a professor at New York University and continues to develop a studio practice rooted in observation and the search for subtle, often overlooked moments within everyday environments.
You can find her work at https://sharabailey.com/
Education
2002 – Ph.D., Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
1995 –M.A., Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
1992 – B.A., Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Galleries and Exhibitions
2024 – CoLab South Orange, Multi Artist Show, South Orange, NJ
2024 – Basin Gallery, It’s a Small Fcking World*, Group Show, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY (ongoing gallery presence)
2024 – Incubator Studio Gallery, The Creators, Group Show, Brooklyn, NY
2024 – Sweet Pea Festival Winter Juried Art Show, Bozeman, MT
Honorable Mention, Story Mill
2023 – Morristown Medical Center, Park Avenue Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Finding the Magical in the Mundane, Morristown, NJ
2023 – New Jersey Visual Arts Center, Solo Exhibition, In the Eyes of the Beholder, Summit, NJ
2023 – Hado-Mark Gallery, Lenox, MA
Four works exhibited, May–August 2023
2023 – Tewksbury Historical Society Juried Show, Tewksbury, NJ
Best in Show, God’s Rays