ArtsFairfax Artist Grants Honor Innovative Artists Sarah Hardesty and Diana Zinna

Fairfax County, VA– ArtsFairfax announces the award of the prestigious 2020 Artist Grants
to — visual artist Sarah Hardesty and writer Diane Zinna. The highly competitive individual Artist
Grants recognize the exceptional work of Fairfax County artists across a range of disciplines
including visual arts, creative writing, theatre, dance performance and choreography, film and
new media. Each $5,000 award is both a high honor and an investment in artists at critical stages
in their creative lives and careers.

“We know that Fairfax County’s creative sector of arts producers and entrepreneurs are
incubators of talent,” said Linda S. Sullivan, President & CEO of ArtsFairfax. “Fairfax artists
and writers like Hardesty and Zinna often go unnoticed despite their national and international
work. The goal of the ArtsFairfax Artist Grants is to raise the profile of outstanding artists by
shining a light on their accomplishments while supporting their growth as artists.”

Sarah Hardesty

Falls Church resident Sarah Hardesty uses drawing, painting, installations, and sculptures to present experiences that connect with our core feelings through the physical landscapes of our lives.

“My work incorporates textures, patterns, and other elements to create a visual platform to align what is happening to the earth with what is happening with personal experience,” says Hardesty.

Hardesty has been exhibited and received
awards and residencies across the United States. Hardesty’s Artist Grant recognizes her breadth of visual arts mastery and her over 50 successful solo and group exhibitions, nine awards and residencies, and 11 grant awards. She has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Wassaic Project, the Carriage House at Islip Art Museum, Santa Fe Art Institute and, the Vermont Studio Center. Hardesty is also an Assistant Professor of Art at Marymount University in Arlington.