Sarah Blaustein, an alumna of the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan (BA ’04), creates lush and evocative paintings that explore sensation and memory. In her intuitive practice, she works primarily with acrylic, ink, and water. Raised in a suburb of Oakland, California, Blaustein now lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Blaustein’s work has been included in several major exhibitions, including Overture at Night Gallery (2024, Los Angeles, California), Analytic Third at Hesse Flatow (2025, New York, New York), and Sarah Blaustein: Present Tense at the Institute of Contemporary Art San José (2023, San Jose, California), alongside other group exhibitions. In September 2023, art historian Laura D. Corey of the Metropolitan Museum of Art spoke about Blaustein’s work at a private salon, To Radiate, hosted by Berggruen Gallery (San Francisco, California):
“It’s the things that kind of bring us life as individuals. When someone is radiating something, they are really bringing life to those around them. It’s that recognition of something intangible… That to me, is where Sarah gives what she gives us.”
From March 28 to May 30, 2026, Blaustein will present new paintings in Field Guide, a two-person exhibition with textile artist Christy Matson at Library Street Collective in Detroit. In advance of her return to Michigan, we caught up with her to learn more about her creative practice, her time at the university, and her advice for the next generation of artists and designers.
