SHARA MAYS
Born in Princeville, North Carolina
Lives in Oakland, California
EDUCATION
MFA, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
BFA, The Corcoran College of Art and Design, George Washington University, Washington, DC
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
The Pit, Los Angeles, CA
2024
Harper’s East Hampton, East Hampton, NY (forthcoming)
Hunter Dunbar Projects, New York, NY (forthcoming)
2023
Color Sanctuary, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Overgrown, Mehari Sequar Gallery, Washington, DC
2022
Everywhere, Chandran Gallery San Francisco, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
NADA Miami, The Pit, Los Angeles (forthcoming)
Summer Group Show, The Pit, Los Angeles (forthcoming)
San Francisco Art Fair, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Felix Art Fair, Harper’s, Los Angeles, CA
Arcadia and Elsewhere, James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY
2023
Dialogues: A Convergence of Color and Form, Hunter Dunbar Projects, New York, NY
Root Division Annual Auction, San Francisco, CA
The Deeper We Sunk in Dreams, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA
After Eden, Latchkey Gallery, New York, NY
2022
BloodChild, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Reflections, Hiram W. Johnson State Office Building, San Francisco, CA
Small Works, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2021
The Future Is, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Root Division Annual Auction, San Francisco, CA
A Joy Unexpected, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Chromocartography, Round Weather Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
MFA Revisited, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2020
The de Young Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Root Division Annual Art Auction, San Francisco, CA
Artistic Messages to Inspire, SFAI and ZAZ10TS, Times Square and San Francisco Art Institute
MFA Virtual Exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute, online
Soiled Matter, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Confrontation/Submission/Resistance, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2019
Assembly, Atrium Gallery, San Francisco, CA
White Walls Black Joy, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Another Show, Art Attack SF, San Francisco, CA
Root Division Annual Auction, San Francisco, CA
Residue/Cocoon, Schafer Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Dream Variations Part Two, Schafer Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
MFA Now, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2018
PRISM, Swell Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2016
Annual Member Show, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
2014
Artist Salon, Temescal Gallery, Oakland, CA
2000
Three Artists, DC Public Library, Washington, DC
BFA Graduate Exhibition, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Washington, DC
AWARDS + GRANTS
2022
SECA Award Nominee
Chabot Las Positas Microbusiness Relief Grant
East Bay Relief Fund for Individuals
2021
Headlands Center for the Arts Affiliate Artists Program
2020
Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Nonprofits grant
Red Bull Arts Artist Grant Program
Headlands Center for the Arts Affiliate Studio Program (headlands.org/sharamays)
2020
Younhee Paik Award, San Francisco Art Institute
2020-2018
Harlan Jackson Diversity Scholarship, San Francisco Art Institute
2019
MindCatcher Teaching Artist Award, MindCatcher
2000
Merit Scholarship, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
RESIDENCIES
2021
FACEBOOK Open Arts Artist in Residency Program
Headlands Center for the Arts Affiliate Artist
2000
Vermont Studio Center Fellowship
COLLECTIONS
Green Family Art Foundation
International African-American Art Museum
META Open Arts
The Corcoran Gallery of Art
Select private collections nationally
Artist Talks
2023
The Urban School, San Francisco, CA
Mehari Sequar Gallery, Washington, DC
Studio House, Baltimore, MD
New Museum Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA
2022
Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2021
Root Division, San Francisco, CA
PRESS
Overgrown
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Mehari Sequar Gallery
Shara Mays and the Unknowable Canvas
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48 Hills
Bloodchild
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Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Landscape Paintings From Within
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Matthew Harrison Tedford
Interview in Juxtapoz Magazine Summer Issue 2022
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Maximalist to the Core | Kristin Farr
Chromocartography
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Round Weather Art Gallery
George Floyd, isolation and Zoom: hundreds of artists fuel pandemic exhibition in San Francisco
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The Guardian | Peter Lawrence Kane
As San Francisco Art Institute Faces Potential Closure, Its MFA Show Might Be Its Last
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Hyperallergic | Elisa Wouk Almino