Sarah Muehlbauer

Location
Germantown,

Sarah Muehlbauer's work defies categorization as much as she defies adversity, dancing between aesthetic and athletic disciplines as an artist, writer, and performer. Whether giving stirring form to feelings that might only be expressed through the intensity of circus spectacle, to the quiet everyday-resistance against a drab world with her wearables, her words and work are equal parts meditation and prayer... that art, hard work, and perseverance are the best defense against life's hardships.

While Sarah’s work began as a solo exploration of chronic illness and the surrounding environment, it is shaped largely by multimedia collaboration. Projects challenge widespread expectations concerning personal integrity, representation, and the facets of disability that remain unseen. Sarah is a Wisconsin-born, Philadelphia-based artist, an alumni of Tyler School of Art and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Major works include Things That Survived The Winter (ongoing); Wind At My Back (2012); Specter Animalia (2010); and solo show, A House For Birds (2014).

Awarded Grants

2019
Residencies

Sarah Muehlbauer (ACG '18) is the 2019 Leeway Artist in Residence at the Icebox Project Space.  

During the residency, Sarah will work on a public presentation of her work "Ripple/Quake", which is a part of her larger Art and Change grant project "Things That Survived The Winter". Earlier in 2019, Sarah led a series of workshops called "Body Maps" at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, integrating movement research made in collaboration with able-bodied and disabled participants. The Icebox Residency will be used to explore and develop the piece's immersive video and sound, and to integrate them with the movement developed in those workshops. 

2018
Art and Change Grant (ACG)

$2,500
Discipline(s)
Media Arts
Performance
Social Change Intents
Disability Justice

Sarah will develop the choreography, video, and sculpture for Ripple Effect as part of her larger multidisciplinary, multi-stage project titled Things That Survived The WinterRipple Effect draws together the work of abled and disabled artists to tackle common issues around mental illness, visible, and invisible disability. The performance focuses on individuals and families suffering from the effects of medical crises and chronic pain.

Erin Ball

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