Biography
Sarah McDermott makes prints and books as the Kidney Press. She received her MFA in Book Arts from the University of Alabama and her BA in Urban Studies from Brown University. Before coming to Marshall, Sarah taught in the Art and the Book M.A. program at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design of George Washington University, and in the printmaking program at the University of North Florida. She teaches workshops around the country, including at Penland School of Crafts and the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory, and has held residencies at Women’s Studio Workshop, the Oregon College of Art and Craft, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, and the Center for Book Arts where she was a Van Lier Scholar in 2010-11. Her work is held in multiple public and private collections including Yale University Arts Library, the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Brown University Artists’ Books Collection. She received the John Marshall University Scholarship Award and a fellowship from the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Genders in Appalachia.
“As I teach, I push students to be rigorous in learning process and technique- developing curiosity about problems as they come up, and learning to troubleshoot by breaking issues down and isolating variables. I encourage students to venture outside of the confines of art courses while growing in their own art practice- to learn how to write well, to delve deeper into topics of interest via research, and to get involved with the community inside and outside of the School of Art and Design.”