Sara Stites

Discipline: Visual Arts

Based In: Rockland, ME

Year at Millay: 2024

Website: http://www.sarastites.com

Born in New York City, I have lived in Houston, Maine, Miami, and spent part of my childhood in Puerto Rico. Upcoming shows in 2025 are at Interloc Gallery in Thomaston, Maine and the Maine Museum of Photographic Imagery. My work has been in one person and group shows in the United States and Europe, and is in the Pérez Art Museum Miami, MoAD, and in the David Horvitz and Francie Bishop Good and Mosquera Collections in Florida, in addition to other private collections. In recent years, my work has been featured in Voyage MIA Magazine, Hyperallergic, Maine Arts Journal, Seymour Magazine and 100+ Degrees in the Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art. My current studio is in Rockland, Maine.

During my residency at Millay last September, I undertook a transformative project that reshaped my approach to art making. Armed with just a few simple supplies— water-based paint, spray paint, and Yupo paper— I explored ways to bring life to imagery that had previously felt too personal or “corny” in my oil paintings. I focused on integrating three key elements: the background, a rendered image from my surroundings or personal photos, and a drawing from my notebook. This self-imposed limitation was a revelation. By embracing simplicity, I clarified my artistic vision and discovered a process that feels both visually stimulating and reflective of how we navigate the world today— layering traditional techniques like drawing and painting with the immediacy of digital and ephemeral sources. Back in my studio, this approach informed my recent series of oil paintings on linen, where I continued to explore this dynamic interplay of styles. I will always be thankful for the time I spent at Millay and hope to return again.