Sarah Joy

Sarah came to UF from South Florida to pursue her BFA in sculpture, graduating in 2016 with a minor in Art History and East Asian Studies. Throughout her summers between Gainesville and home, she began volunteering and interning at the Morikami Museum of Art and Japanese Gardens. There she was introduced to the fascinating behind-the-scenes world of museum collections and was immediately hooked. 

After deciding to settle in Gainesville after undergrad, she is living and working as an interdisciplinary artist and School of Art and Art History staff member pursuing an M.A. in Museum Studies through UF’s Employee Education Program. Her consistent interest in the intersections between science, visual art and the natural world led her back to UF to continue to explore the ways in which these passions can align. 

Currently maintaining her practice as an interdisciplinary artist, her work incorporates the themes of anxiety, ephemerality, and a compulsion for collecting and preservation. Her research interests include early Cabinets of Curiosity, living collections, conservation, ethics, and large-scale immersive environments. 

Sarah previously worked in nonprofit animal rescue and in her spare time enjoys spoiling her many rescue cats, being in nature, and visiting every antique store she can find.