SARAH BEST is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and dance film curator, born in Williamsport, PA in 1980. She received a BA from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University in 2002 and continued her education in Chicago at the University of Chicago. She ives and works in Madison, Wisconsin.

Sarah's poems have appeared in The Yale Review, and she recently completed her first collection of poetry, The Yolk. 

As an artist in residence at Hyde Park Art Center, Sarah opened the doors of her studio to create a salon style environment evoking the kinos or private art clubs of the 1920s in Soviet Russia. Dance Films Kino featured the work of 45 filmmakers, writers, musicians and performing artists at 30 free screenings and live performances.

Sarah's photography has been featured by Chicago Public Radio, Chicago Reader, Chicago Art Magazine, and Bad at Sports, among other publications, and has been exhibited by Antena Gallery and Cobalt Art Studio in Chicago. Sarah has also presented projects at 20x2 Chicago, The Printers Ball, and Version Fest.

Sarah has curated numerous programs of live performance, and dance on film, at Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Echo Park Film Center (Los Angeles), Chicago Cultural Center, Mana Contemporary (Chicago, Jersey City) and Links Hall (Chicago). 

http://www.sarahbest.net

Press & CV

View recent press related to my artistic and curatorial projects, and my artist resume.

Excerpt: Q&A With Zac Whittenburg in Time Out Chicago 

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but sometimes Dance Films Kino sounds like a festival, and sometimes it sounds more like an art installation that just happens to be a venue. Who’s in charge here: Sarah Best the artist or Sarah Best the curator?

For me, it’s always about trying to marry the facts that I’m a curator and an artist. I’ve been doing film curation for a long time. I’ve been making art for a long time. This is a way for me to do both at the same time. I’m a strong believer in creating environments and the pull that that can have on people, in the same way people like to fantasize about traveling to places that they haven’t been. It’s an effective tool for opening people to new experiences.