Westminster Christian Academy has hired John Sarra, former art professor at Washington University in St. Louis, as upper school art teacher and chair of the Art Department for the 2014-15 school year.
Sarra has been on the art faculty at WashU for 18 years, most recently as senior lecturer in painting. He has exhibited and lectured widely in the areas of painting, drawing, printmaking, and woodworking. Sarra describes his unique studio practice as inspired by philosophies of Chinese garden design and an appreciation of quietly distinct visual incidents.
“After 17 years of teaching at the university level, I’m excited about my new role as chair of visual arts at Westminster,” says Sarra. “I have two main goals for the art program: expanding course options to better prepare students for college and a career in the arts, and developing the visual literacy of all students in order that they may effectively interpret and interact with our complex visual culture.”
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Sarra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from the College of Charleston and Master of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in painting. Sarra worked for six years as a custom woodworker apprentice and nine years as an intensive home repair and restoration specialist.
“The Westminster community is thrilled to welcome John Sarra to chair our Art Department,” says Tom Stoner, head of school. “His reputation as a professional artist and art professor is well known in greater St. Louis. We anticipate that these credentials, combined with his Christian faith and personal character, will make him a high-impact teacher for our students.”
