Artworks and visual diary at: @ART.SANDRAPEREZRAMOS

Sandra Pérez-Ramos is a Puerto Rican visual artist and community art leader working in the Washington, DC metro area. She is a Resident Artist in Gallery 209, affiliated with Artists & Makers Studios in Rockville, Maryland. Her body of work includes drawings, fiber arts, installation, murals and public art. In her drawings, the repetition of dots, lines and spirals simbolize interconnection, allude to ancient archetypes, myths and to the soothing rituals of magic affirmations. When using fiber materials and assemblage Sandra explores identity, otherness, cultural clash, the idea of home, idioms linked to superstitions, mix of languages and spiritual beliefs in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. There is whimsy and humor imbued with nostalgia, as she comments on heritage and history, both, results of ancestral patterns of migration, and later, to forced colonization and colonialism.

Through her role in the Visual Arts Team for the Arts & Cultural Heritage Division, for a branch of the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Pérez-Ramos serves as cultural liaison for Latin and multi cultural programs. She curates and installs exhibitions that promote local visual artists, throughout the year. She has focused on inclusion and diversity while serving in multiple roles within regional organizations. Some of these past roles were: Co-founder of The Latino Art League of Greater Washington DC's (*first/ former) chapter, Membership Committee Chair for Montgomery Art Association, leader of the Wheaton Area Latinx Artists for WAP, leader of the Tableaux Vivant groups for Wheaton Arts Parade, Exhibition Installation Manager for Wheaton Arts Parade's (*first two) gallery spaces inside Westfield Wheaton Mall. 

Sandra's works blend primitive, kitsch and contemporary aesthetics. Critic Lennox Campello, described her drawings in the Alexandria Old Town Crier: "Pérez-Ramos channels her Caribbean upbringing in her accomplished works. Her artistic pedigree is evident in the gifted use of color and form to deliver highly stylized imagery, which over the years has grown into one of the hardest achievements in the art world: a completely distinct style and ritual.” When it comes to public art, she understands the power of placemaking and design. Margaret Rifkin, Founder of The Art & Walkability Project in Silver Spring, MD, says: “Pérez-Ramos' art is for everyone...one of the most democratic ways to bring beauty to the body politic, both the marginalized and mainstream”. Her intention is to create uplifting works that transform communities, encourage healing and celebrate diversity.

In 2020, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission selected Pérez-Ramos to design Prince George County's commemorative poster for its Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. In 2021, The Better Block Foundation commissioned her to design a temporary mural for the Pike District at the Bethesda Trolley Trailhead. Her works have been exhibited throughout the US and Puerto Rico and acquired for the permanent collections of Washington DC's Children's National Hospital, Marie Reed Project for Community of Hope, by Mayor Tracey Furman (for Kensington's Town Hall). Her design, The Gathering Tree, a collaboration with artist Stuart Diekmeyer for Glenmont Forest Neighborhood Park in Silver Spring, MD, received two Public Art Project Implementation Grant awards from the Maryland State Arts Council, through GFN Civic Association. It is located at 12220 Georgia Ave, Glenmont-Wheaton, 20902.

Additional public art awards include:

▪️“Hope Tree” - Mural banner for the #ArtHappensHere Public Art Project by the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County. Installed at Woodside Urban Park in Downtown Silver Spring, MD for one year.

▪️“Celebration” - Painted sculpture for Art in Bloom Public Art installation by the National Cherry Blossom Festival 2021 in Washington, DC. Her sculpture was temporarily located at 4th St & Butternut St in the Takoma, DC neighborhood. Then purchased by the Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC for its permanent collection.

▪️“Roots/Raíces” -50 ft Mural for Wheaton Gateway LLC Art Project (Wilco, Duffie Co. and Montgomery County Housing) currently on the intersection between University Blvd and Veirs Mill Rd in Wheaton, MD.

▪️“The Lunatics” -Painted sculpture for Path of Pyramids, a traveling public art installation by Wheaton Arts Parade. It started in Wheaton, MD, then it was exhibited at In (Site) Project Gallery in VisArts, Rockville, MD, at Sandy Spring Museum, MD and is currently at Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD.