Sahara Harrington
Transformative Justice Exposure awardee: $20,000
This grant will be used by Sahara Harrington to create a collection of paintings that shed light on the extreme oppression of women in other countries.
Sahara Harrington was born in Jogjakarta in the south-central region of Indonesia. She says that in many ways, Indonesia was the ideal environment for artistic cultivation. As a young child, she began training in the art of Balinese dance, a cultural dance native to the paradise island of Bali.
“The dance itself is a mystical art form that has mesmerized and inspired painters, sculptors, poets, and musicians both local and from far and wide for centuries,” she says. “The dance movements became an inspiration, weaving themselves into the strokes of my brush.”
While continuing to grow as a professional artist in the United States, she says she will never forget the gender inequalities and socioeconomic challenges faced by so many people in the community where she grew up. To that end, a portion of the sales from all of her artwork goes to orphanages in Jogjakarta and to funds that promote the education and health of people in remote villages throughout Indonesia.
With this grant, Sahara will develop and display an art exhibition showcasing the stories of women and transgender people with a focus on those who are on the outskirts of society due to their race/ethnicity, immigration status, income level, sexual orientation or disability status. She also aims to build professional relationships with exhibitors and artists whose work aligns with her values and foster opportunities to continue her work beyond the grant period.
WEB: https://studiosahara.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/studiosahara/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/sahara.harrington/