Are you an artist, arts organization or venue?

artist

What town do you live in?

Sunderland

In which disciplines do you work or exhibit?

Drawing, Painting

Artist Statement/Bio

Artist Statement
Sara Gately is Massachusetts based 2D Visual Artist and K-8 Art Teacher. She has been practicing the Visual Arts for over ten years and has exhibited in group and solo shows throughout the New England area. Gately attended Hampshire College where she received a B.A. in Comparative Relion and Visual Art in 2003. In 2008, Gately received her M.Ed for Teaching Visual Arts PreK-8 from Lesley University. Gately’s visual style is influenced by the juxtaposition between graffiti or street art and the art of religiously narrated stained glass. Gately uses line to communicate her emotions.

For many years, Gately was creating a series of animal portraits to inspire empathy and compassion in the hearts and minds of the viewers of her work. Gately’s portraits are a reaction to increasing environmental concerns. Animal habitats are consistently threatened by encroaching human development. Factory farms have taken over the food industry and a variety of species are becoming endangered and extinct due to environmental pollution and illegal poaching. It is Gately’s aim to call attention to the dire need for humans to have compassion for animals. In having compassion for other living beings, by allowing ourselves to understand that animals possess feelings and thoughts, people can widen their understanding of the natural world and thereby better understand themselves.
More recently, Gately has been creating pieces that are abstract and figurative as well as cartoon based. Due to her struggle with kidney disease and arthritis, she has been very isolated during the pandemic. Gately is highly immune compromised and has been struggling with daily functionality and therefore has been creating artwork that is less meaningful and more lighthearted, as to cheer herself up and bring joy to the world, which desperately needs it. Gately has a wide-reaching style that can be both serious and whimsical. It is a testament to her range as an artist. In addition, she is familiar with a plethora of different fine art techniques and materials, utilizing her skills as an elementary art teacher to create mixed media work. Gately is both a traditionalist as well as rebellious in her use of subject matter, medium and style.