Susan Sarti, Artist-in-Residence
March 1 - March 29, 2006

"As soon as I could put crayon to paper, I was drawing.  I drew with sticks in wet sand at Ocean Beach in San Francisco and with the thick leaves of my mother’s jade plant on the narrow cement sidewalk in front of my house.  I drew on the backs of used envelopes and on all the scratch paper.

“I was introduced to ‘Modern Art’ as an eleven-year old on a school field trip to MOMA when it was on Van Ness Avenue.  Walking through quiet, light-filled galleries of non-representational work and unrealistic images, my classmates pointed, giggled, made gagging faces and rolled their eyes.  So did I…but for me it was a lie.  For me, a life-long passion was born.  I realized then, that emotion and messages could be carried by pure color, line and mass; that ‘art’ did not have to be a picture of something recognizable to elicit a profound response.  I have been a confirmed museum/gallery goer ever since.  And I have drawn and painted colors with symbols to tell my stories.”

                                                                                                   ….Susan Sarti

After teaching in Castro Valley for 34 years, Susan Sarti retired in 2000 and was free to pursue her passion for drawing and painting.  And busy she has been.  She has exhibited her works in local galleries throughout the Bay Area and was invited to display her works in a one-person exhibit at Bodi’s Java in 2005.

As the first “artist-in-residence” of the Castro Valley Center for the Arts, Susan’s work will be displayed in the Center’s Exhibition Room from March 1 through March 29.  She will also be conducting mentoring sessions in collaboration with the visual art classes at Castro Valley High during the month.

Browse Susan's work on-line!