Sandra Pérez-Ramos is a Puerto Rican visual artist and community art leader working, exhibiting and creating public art in the
Washington, DC metro area. and a Resident Artist in Gallery 209, affiliated with Artists & Makers Studios in Rockville, Maryland.
Art Critic Lennox Campello, described her work in the Alexandria Old Town Crier: "Pérez-Ramos channels her Caribbean upbringing in her accomplished works. Her artistic pedigree is evident in her 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.”
Her body of work includes drawings, fiber arts, mixed media, murals and public art. She believes in the concept of "collective unconscious" and interconnection is a recurring theme in her work. She is inspired by folk arts, traditional
textiles and ancient symbols that show mystical and natural similarities across cultures. Her drawings are
elaborate with whimsical narratives, mixing retro with contemporary
aesthetics. Her fiber works explore cultural clash, language mix, magical thinking and synchretism. The repetitition of dots and lines, drawn, knotted or sewn, are an important ritual throughout her body of work.
When it comes to public art, she understands the power of design and placemaking in communities. Her intention is to create
uplifting works and spaces that encourage healing, inspire connection and celebrate diverse cultures. 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”.
Maryland State Arts Council awarded the 2022 Public Art Project Implementation Grant to "The Gathering Tree", her design for Glenmont Forest Neighborhood Park in Silver Spring, MD. This collaboration with artist Stuart
Diekmeyer, overseeing structural design, will be completed by 2023. Fabrication will be by Howard Connelly
Design. The community will be included in the creation of the ground murals that complement the design.
In 2020, 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 mural for the Pike District at the Bethesda Trolley Trailhead. Her work has been exhibited in Solo and collective exhibitions throughout the US and Puerto
Rico and acquired by the Children's National Hospital, the Marie Reed Project for Community of Hope (both in Washington, DC), by by Mayor Tracey Furman (for the Town Hall in Kensington, MD) and
by others for their permanent collections.
Additional juried public art awards include:
▪️“Hope Tree” - Mural /banner for the #ArtHappensHere Public Art Project by the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County. Currently installed at Woodside
Urban Park in Downtown Silver Spring, MD.
▪️“Celebration” - Painted sculpture for Art in Bloom Public Art installation by the National Cherry Blossom Festival 2021 in Washington, DC. Her sculpture is currently located at 4th St &
Butternut St in the Takoma, DC neighborhood. Purchased by the Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC for tis 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.
Sandra served multiple leadership roles in regional art organizations, focusing on outreach, creating exhibition opportunities and inclusion of Latin and diverse
creatives within the local art scene. Some of these roles were: Membership Committee Chair for Montgomery Art Association, Co-founder of The Latino Art League's first chapter, leader of the
Wheaton area Latinx artists for WAP, leader of the Tableaux Vivant groups for Wheaton Arts Parade and Exhibition
Installation Manager in Wheaton Arts Parade's former two co-op gallery spaces inside Westfield Wheaton Mall.
*For the complete list of affiliations, awards, solo and juried exhibitions visit the Curriculum Vitae tab.