Sarah Hempel Irani studied art in the classical tradition at Hillsdale
College under the tutelage of Anthony Frudakis. She graduated magna cum
laude in May, 2000. After graduation, she came to Maryland to work as an
apprentice to Jay Hall Carpenter, former Artist-in-Residence at the
Washington National Cathedral. In 2001, she established a studio in
Frederick, Maryland.
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Potomac, Maryland commissioned
Sarah, in collaboration with another sculptor, to create the fourteen
Stations of the Cross. The work took nearly a year to complete and was
installed in May 2002.
In the summer of 2002, she submitted her portfolio to The National
Sculpture Society’s annual National Sculpture Competition. She was one of
ten sculptors chosen to compete in the week-long figure modeling contest
hosted by Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. On the basis of her
portfolio, the National Sculpture Society awarded her the Edward Fenno
Hoffman Prize as the "young sculptor who strives to uplift the human spirit
through the medium of her art."
Sarah recently completed two over-life-size figures depicting Saint Joseph
and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She articulated each of the sculptures full-
scale in clay and had the plaster casts copied in marble by stone carvers.
Recently she was in Pietrasanta, Italy, where she oversaw the completion
of Saint Joseph at an Italian marble studio. The Blessed Virgin was installed
at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in October and St. Joseph in June.
A dedication was held on November 17, 2007. Her work on this project
was featured on the cover of Lutheran Forum magazine in their Winter
2007 issue.
Sarah also sculpts life-like portraits for Dorfman Museum Figures in
Baltimore. The Museum Figures company provides realistic “wax figures”
for museums and displays around the globe. She has worked on living,
historic and posthumous portraits.
For three years, Sarah worked as the Coordinator of Visual Resources for
Hood College’s Department of Art and Archaeology. There she began
graduate work in Renaissance and Medieval Studies. She expects to finish
in the Spring of 2009.
Sarah lives in an old bungalow in Frederick with her husband and their
Siberian husky, Emma. She currently works at a shared space downtown
Frederick.
College under the tutelage of Anthony Frudakis. She graduated magna cum
laude in May, 2000. After graduation, she came to Maryland to work as an
apprentice to Jay Hall Carpenter, former Artist-in-Residence at the
Washington National Cathedral. In 2001, she established a studio in
Frederick, Maryland.
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Potomac, Maryland commissioned
Sarah, in collaboration with another sculptor, to create the fourteen
Stations of the Cross. The work took nearly a year to complete and was
installed in May 2002.
In the summer of 2002, she submitted her portfolio to The National
Sculpture Society’s annual National Sculpture Competition. She was one of
ten sculptors chosen to compete in the week-long figure modeling contest
hosted by Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. On the basis of her
portfolio, the National Sculpture Society awarded her the Edward Fenno
Hoffman Prize as the "young sculptor who strives to uplift the human spirit
through the medium of her art."
Sarah recently completed two over-life-size figures depicting Saint Joseph
and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She articulated each of the sculptures full-
scale in clay and had the plaster casts copied in marble by stone carvers.
Recently she was in Pietrasanta, Italy, where she oversaw the completion
of Saint Joseph at an Italian marble studio. The Blessed Virgin was installed
at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in October and St. Joseph in June.
A dedication was held on November 17, 2007. Her work on this project
was featured on the cover of Lutheran Forum magazine in their Winter
2007 issue.
Sarah also sculpts life-like portraits for Dorfman Museum Figures in
Baltimore. The Museum Figures company provides realistic “wax figures”
for museums and displays around the globe. She has worked on living,
historic and posthumous portraits.
For three years, Sarah worked as the Coordinator of Visual Resources for
Hood College’s Department of Art and Archaeology. There she began
graduate work in Renaissance and Medieval Studies. She expects to finish
in the Spring of 2009.
Sarah lives in an old bungalow in Frederick with her husband and their
Siberian husky, Emma. She currently works at a shared space downtown
Frederick.
Photo credit: Bruce Waldron
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| Biography |