The Moon In my Heart
Oil on Canvas
48h x 60w in
Born in Havana, Cuba, Yolanda Sánchez immigrated to the United States in February 1960. She obtained a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Florida State University and has practiced and taught psychology at the graduate level for over 30 years. In her mid- thirties, Dr. Sánchez returned to school, obtaining a BFA and subsequently, an MFA from Yale University in painting. She is a Fulbright scholar, completing her fellowship as a painter in Spain for one year, and more recently, was a Visiting Scholar & Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. Among her various awards is a latest grant to support a residency in Oaxaca, Mexico. Exhibiting nationally and internationally in numerous venues, Dr. Sánchez is also an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University. She is a curator and writer, and formerly Director of Fine Arts & Cultural Affairs at Miami International Airport, a position she held for 21 years.
"In beauty may I walk"
Nature, in a very broad sense, is my source of inspiration. In a non-intellectual way, I am translating and projecting thoughts, emotions and sensations into a moment of meeting, working with light, color and mark and the materiality of the paint itself. I am holding a space for the viewer – to enter, to be there, to have a moment of contemplation, and to finish the work, as it were. Subject and object are dissolved and replaced by a presence – a “presence without form.” There is no story to be told, just simply a desire to awaken.
The title of this exhibition comes from a traditional Navajo prayer that affirms the power of beauty. “In beauty may I walk” reflects my desire to create work and to live with a focus on that which is beautiful in the world. We shape the world through our perceptions, awareness, and attention. When we engage in an enjoyable sensory experience that provides a pause, the encounter transforms us, even if briefly. I aim to create a viewing encounter that falls below the level of thought, one that opens our perception, and brings us to a sensorial present.
I believe that beautiful things restore our optimism and faith in the world, which in turn encourage us to respond creatively and compassionately toward our surroundings and others. Through my work, my desire is to restore beauty to its place as a vehicle for communicating humanist values, propelling us toward the good.
Making art for me is a way of being present in the world - an act of attention. And through this attention, I give back and offer praise to the world. My work is celebratory, expanding, and about offering pleasure.
EDUCATION
1994 Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
MFA Painting
1991 Florida International University, Miami, FL
BFA Visual Arts - major in painting
1979 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology
1976 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
MS Clinical Psychology
1973 University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
BA Psychology, minor in Educational Psychology
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2025, 2024 Miami Individual Artists Stipend Program Award, Miami-Dade County
Department of Cultural Affairs
2023 Artist Access Grant to support residency in Oaxaca, Mexico, Miami-Dade County
Department of Cultural Affairs
2022 Miami Individual Artists Stipend Program Award; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts
2019 Hemera Contemplative Fellowship, The Garrison Institute
Korea Bojagi Project & Travel, made possible with support from Oolite Arts,
Miami, FL
2018 American Academy in Rome, Visiting Scholars/Visiting Artists Program
2017 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant Program Nominee
National Association of Counties Achievement Award,
Arts & Historic Preservation Category, Wall of Honor Memorial
(with Miami International Airport - MIA)
2016 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant Program Nominee
The Japan Foundation New York, Grant for Arts & Culture (with MIA)
2012 Knight Foundation, Knight Arts Challenge Award (with MIA)
2012 North America Airports Council International, Excellence in Community Outreach, 1st Place (with MIA)
2011 North America Airports Council International, Excellence in Customer Service Initiatives, 1st Place (with MIA)
2010 Artist Access Grant, Tigertail Productions, Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council
Florida Airports Council, Community Affairs Award (with MIA)
2007 Artist Enhancement Grant, State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs
Catto Scholarship Fund Award, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO
2005 Miami-Dade County Manager’s “Achievement of Excellence” Award, Miami, FL
2003 North America Airports Council International, Excellence in Marketing and
Communications Award, 1st Place, Special Events, for the exhibition, Healing the World
(with MIA)
2000 Awarded residency at The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA
1998 Artist Access Grant, Tigertail Productions, Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council
Awarded residency at The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA
1994 - 95 J. William Fulbright Scholarship for Graduate Study Abroad (Spain) - 9 months;
Approved for Extension - 3 months
1994 Yale University School of Art, Winsor Newton Oil Bar Limited Prize
In Recognition of Outstanding Work
1993 - 94 Yale University Tuition Scholarship
1992 - 93 Yale University Tuition Scholarship
1991 Faculty Commendation for Excellence in Art, Florida International University
Betty Laird Purchase Award
The Art Museum of Florida International University, Miami, FL
Purchase Award, The Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Awarded residency at Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
1974 - 79 Full Scholarship, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
1971 - 73 University of Miami Scholarship
2026 Ida y Vuelta, Museo Textil, Oaxaca, Mexico
2025 In beauty may I walk, Pryor Gallery, Atlanta GA
2024 All We Really Want to Do Is Dance, Oolite Arts, Windows at Walgreens, Miami Beach, FL
2024 The Colours of Spring, Museum of Art-DeLand, Deland, FL
2023 All the Light We Cannot See, The Deering Estate, Miami, FL
Out of Eden, The Gallery at Creative Pinellas, Largo, FL
2022 Come Slowly – Eden!, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
Kiss the Joy as It Flies: O-mikuji, Installation, Special Collections & University Archives,
Florida International University, Miami, FL
2021 The Earth Laughs in Flowers, MIA Galleries, Miami International Airport,
Miami, FL
2019 The Intensest Rendezvous, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
2018 Presences, Melvin Gallery, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL
2017 A Verdant Heart: New Paintings, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
2016 Along the Road of Dreams, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
Along the Road of Dreams, University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Recent Work, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Bridgehampton, NY
2015 There is Only the Dance, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, FL
2014 Sometimes There Are No Rules, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
2013 Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts,
Bridgehampton, NY
2012 Meditations on the Between, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
2012 Azul: Works on Paper, The Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2011 Wild Companions, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
Holding the Space, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, Indiana
New Paintings, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
2009 New Work, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, FL
Odegard’s Ongoing Artist Series, Odegard Showroom, Miami Design District, Miami, FL
2006 Recent Work, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, FL
In summer, the song sings itself, Art @ Work, Arturo Mosquera Collection, Miami, FL
2005 Working the Fields, Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL 1997 Metro-Dade Cultural Resource Center, Miami, FL
2025 Bojagi & Beyond, Korea Bojagi Forum 2025; The Four Elements, XI Biennial of Textile Art,
Miami, FL
2024 Unfolding, Sierra Arts Foundation, Reno, Nevada
Layers: An Exhibition of Textile Works by artisans from the Nationally recognized Art Cloth
Network, Noyes Cultural Center, Evanston, IL
2023 Industry-Luxury, Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, Bethlehem, PA
Unfolding, The Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, La Conner, WA
Bojagi Journey 2023, curated by Patricia King,
The Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, La Conner, WA
2022 40 Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Westport, CT
El Hilo Conductor II, Instituto Cultural de Mexico en Miami, Miami, FL
2021 Talking Threads: Dialogues with Weavers and Knotters of South Florida,
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL (a companion exhibition to A Beautiful Mess: Weavers and Knotters of the Vanguard, organized by the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA
2021 Women Pulling at the Thread of Social Discourse – The Quilt, Fiber Artists Miami Association (FAMA), CAMP Gallery, Miami, FL
August Women, curated by Elena Prohaska, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts at Bridgehampton, NY
Art Factory Project, Spaced Out: Time is Art, curated by Adriana Herrera, Miami, FL
Threaded, curated by Rina Gitlin, The Consulate General of Mexico, Miami, FL
El Hilo Conductor, The Box Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
Not All That Glitters Is Gold: Selection of Works by Women Artists in the Mosquera Collection
(Part I), Miami, FL
2020 Questions + Answers, Selected works by 2020 Penland School Instructors,
Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
Women Pulling at the Thread of Social Discourse, Fiber Artists Miami Association (FAMA),
CAMP Gallery, Miami, FL
2019 Good Vibrations II, Leslie Curran Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL
Artists’ Drawings of their Studios, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
Life and Work of an Idea: Miami’s Art@Work and Farside Gallery in Buenos Aires,
Colectivo Periferia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2017 Pulling the Thread, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
More Women Painting, co-production of Design Sublime, Girls’ Club & Available Space,
Miami, FL
2016 Bojagi: The Living Tradition, Suwon/Hwasung Museum, Suwon (Seoul), South Korea
Art @ Work, Part III-Miami-Based Artists: Better Alive Than Dead, Arturo Mosquera Collection, Miami, FL
Pigment and Paper, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
Friends, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, FL
2015 Yolanda Sánchez and Don Swanson, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
Aesthetics & Values Exhibition, The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum,
Florida International University, Miami, FL
2014 Thirty Years on the Road, curated by Edouard Duval-Carrié, ArtCenter, Miami Beach, FL
Korea Bojagi Forum, Jeju Museum of Contemporaty Art, Jeju Culture Artists Village,
Jeju Island, South Korea
Chojun Textile and Quilt Museum, Seoul, South Korea
2013 Abstract Thinking, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
Abstract, adj.: Expressing a quality apart from an object, Ringling College of Art & Design, Selby Gallery, Sarasota, FL
Paint City, Florida International University, Miami Beach Urban Studios, Miami Beach, FL
2012 A Través del Entramado: Ver Sin Ser Visto, Museo Siyâsa, Murcia, Spain
Aqua Art Miami (ArtBasel Miami Beach), Kathryn Markel Gallery, Miami, FL
Korea Bojagi Forum, International Exhibition, Bojagi and Beyond, Seoul, Korea
Kenise Barnes Fine Art at Designing Greenwich, Stamford, CT
2012 Paint, Bridge Red Studios/Project Space, Miami, FL
Little Languages/Coded Pictures, curated by Michelle Weinberg and Theresa Hackett,
Florida Focus Exhibition: A Celebration of Contemporary Florida Art,
curated by Ken Rollins, The Studio@620, St. Petersburg, FL
2011 Uncommon Threads, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
The Search for Self-Identity in Cuban Contemporary Art, Café XIII,
The Journeys of Cuban Writers and Artists, Gallery of the Errol Barrow Center for the Imagination, University of West Indies, Barbados
Outdoor Installation, Suwong Hwaseong International Theatre and Arts Festival, Seoul, Korea
Bojagi International Exhibition, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA
Works on Paper, J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, FL
2010 Good & Plenty/Art Basel 2010, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
Ways of World-Making: Notes on the Passion for Collecting, Miami-Dade College, Wolfson Campus, The Freedom Tower, Miami, FL
Kathryn Markel Gallery, Artists’ Invitational, New York, NY
Café X: The Journey of Cuban Artists, Errol Barrow Center for Creative Imagination, in conjunction with the symposium, Celebrating the Cuban Diaspora,
University of the West Indies, Barbados
2009 Just Breathe, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
2009 NEW/NOW: New Painting and Drawing, The Schoolhouse Gallery,
Provincetown, MA
2008 Café VIII: The Journey of Cuban Artists, Temple University, Rome Campus,
Rome, Italy
2007 Café VII: The Journeys of Cuban Artists, Arizona State University,
Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Gallery, Glendale, AZ
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Building Picturing, The Painting Center, New York, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (continued)
2007 Vision de un Lenguaje Abstracto, A. Cueto Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2005 Introductions 05, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2005 Crossing the Line, The Painting Center, New York, NY
A Group Show, Scott White Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
The Right Work at the Right Time, Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL
2004 Scott White Contemporary Art, Telluride, CO; LaJolla, CA
Locust Projects, Miami, FL
2003 Scott White Contemporary Art, Telluride, CO; LaJolla, CA
Locust Projects, Miami, FL
2002 Eliciting a Response: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Museum of Art,
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
The No Show, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
Miami Art Exchange Non-Affiliated Juried Exhibition in conjunction with Art
Basel 2002, The Living Room, Miami, FL
2002 Stomping Ground 1, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
Art Times, Cheryl Hazan Arts Gallery, New York, NY
Paper View, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
2001 Home Grown, Art Center South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
2000 Inner Vistas: Self-Portraits of the ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
DeLand Museum of Art, DeLand, FL
Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL
Graham University Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL, State of Florida Art in State Buildings Program
The Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Neiman Marcus Corporate Headquarters, Dallas, TX
Chojun Textile & Quilt Museum, Seoul, South Korea
J. Crew, New York, NY
New York Presbyterian Hospital, NY, NY
Collection of Preston H. Haskell, Jacksonville, FL
