Sally Graves Machlis is Professor Emeritus of Art and Design and Art Education at the University of Idaho. She was a faculty member from 1992-2018, serving as program chair of Art and Design for a total of eleven years. Sally taught drawing, painting, graduate studios, art appreciation and art education courses and was active in educational outreach in the arts throughout Idaho. She served on the Idaho Commission on the Arts for two terms and was the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Art Education. As a faculty member, Sally was also engaged in interdisciplinary grant writing, exhibitions and academic presentations. 

Sally exhibits her artwork regionally, nationally and internationally including solo and group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, London, Cuba, and Taiwan. Sally works in a wide variety of media from watercolor, acrylic, oil, and collage to mixed media. She has long been interested in the symbols of human organization and the stories they tell about our lives. Her work has also been influenced by travel including the introduction to ink painting and calligraphy during a sabbatical in Taiwan. As a visiting artist at National Chiayi University, she had two solo exhibitions, delivered lectures and studio critiques and created many paintings.

In the last five years Sally has also been engaged in creating collaborative art work with graphic design colleague, Delphine Keim, combining painting with text and technology. Their work addresses social, political and environmental issues through large mixed media works on paper and installations. With her recent retirement from the university and relocation to Coeur d Alene, Idaho, Sally is spending more time in her studio and traveling. 

Making Art

I am in love with beauty and bound by justice. This causes me to be either blissfully happy or terribly frustrated. Making art is my path to experience beauty and resolve injustice. I have always made things and knew that I wanted to make art my life and career since I was a child. Art has sustained me during challenging times in my life. I also love to cook, eat, garden, walk, travel, teach, read, nurture and dream.

A career in teaching allowed me to examine my own practice while helping others. A sabbatical in Taiwan introduced me to pulled noodles, paper and ink. Working more recently with a valued colleague and friend has expanded my work to include collaborative installation focusing on social, environmental and political issues. It is all about beauty and justice.