Litchfield, Sandy

Sandy Litchfield is an accomplished visual painter, institutional curator, and Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After receiving her foundational training in studio arts in Colorado and Nepal during the late 1980s and early 1990s, she formalized her practice with a Master of Fine Arts in Painting.

Litchfield has spent decades driving a highly influential academic and creative trajectory. From 2017 to 2024, she directed the Design Building Gallery at UMass Amherst, cultivating a progressive arena for contemporary spatial design. As a central force in the Environmental Humanities, she co-founded the UMass Transdisciplinary Future Studies Team and established the speculative digital ecosystem On Distant Keys. Her work has been acquired and highlighted by premier East Coast museums and major public municipal entities.

Education & Academic Foundations
2003: Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Painting – University of Massachusetts Amherst (Awarded Full Teaching Associateship)

1994: Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Studio Art (Magna Cum Laude) – University of Colorado, Boulder

1986: Semester Abroad (Nepal Study Program) – School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT

Academic & Pedagogical Leadership (UMass Amherst)
Litchfield anchors her interdisciplinary philosophy within her course design, merging theory, graphics, and ecological justice:

ARCH 100 / 597: Intro to Architecture Design & Graphics / Drawing the City

ARCH 300 / 301 / 500: Architectural Design Foundations I & II / Graduate Design I

ARCH 499 / HONORS 391AH: Utopian Theory and the Art of Sustainable Futuring / Utopian Drawings of Architectural Visionaries

ARCH 630: Philosophy of Architecture and Design

ARCH 590P / ENG 890PB: Co-facilitator, Paperbark Interdisciplinary Magazine

Major Awards, Fellowships & Residencies
2025: Distinguished Community Engagement Award for Research – UMass Amherst

2025: Fellow – The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency, Lake Como, Italy

2025: ADVANCE Equitable Practices in Collaboration (EPiC) Award – UMass Amherst

2022: Project Grant (On Distant Keys) – Puffin Foundation

2022: CODAawards Top 100 Selection

2019: Public Art Network (PAN) Year in Review Award – Americans for the Arts

2016: Research Fellowship – Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation

2007: Artist Fellowship – Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine

2006: Artist Fellowship – Massachusetts Cultural Council

2002: Best of Show – Annual Small Works Exhibition, Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT

1994: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Grant – University of Colorado, Boulder

1992: Eve Drewelow Painting Award – University of Colorado, Boulder

Selected Publications & Research Papers
2023: "Agential Realism in Architecture: Exploring Matter and Meaning." Material Economies, ACSA/AIA Intersections Research Conference, Amherst, MA.

2022: "Drawing the City." In T Squared: Theories and Tactics in Architecture and Design, edited by Samantha Krukowski, 112-126. Bristol, UK: Intellect.

2018: "Precarious Playgrounds." CANDY LAND (scape) III, ACSA National Fall Conference, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

2017: "Negative Capability in Design Education." Charette: Journal of the Association of Architectural Educators (aae), 4(1), London.

2016: "Kit of (Odd) Parts: From Still Life to Conjectural City." Tools, 1:1, 32nd National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, California Polytechnic State University.

Permanent Public Art Commissions
2022: Permanent Public Art Commission – Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts & Design, New York

2016–2018: The Tree Inside Me – Percent-for-Art Commission for NYC Public Art for Public Schools (Installed at PS 14X, Bronx, NY)

Exhibition History
Recent & Institutional Museum Exhibitions
Her environmental paintings and design matrices have been featured prominently across select American museums:

2025: Recent Paintings – Bernay Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA

2025: Art on Paper – Garvey|Simon Gallery, New York City, NY

2024: Un Jour d’Été – Sobering Galerie, Paris, France

2023: Silent Spring – Central Connecticut State University Gallery, New New Britain, CT

Museum Surveys: Featured group selections showcased at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (Lincoln, MA), The Fitchburg Art Museum (Fitchburg, MA), and the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR).

Selected Juried & Group Exhibitions
2003: Faber Birren National Color Award Show – Stamford Art Association (Juror: Dana Miller, Whitney Museum of Art)

2003: The Boston Drawing Project – Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA (Juror: Edward Saywell, Fogg Museum)

2003: M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition – Herter Gallery, UMass Amherst

2002: Interpreting Landscape – Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY (Juror: Sandra Carpenter, Artist Magazine)

2002: Annual Small Works Exhibition – Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT (Juror: Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, DeCordova Museum)

1998: Colorado Wyoming Biennial – One West Art Center, Fort Collins, CO (Juror: Sandy Hawthorn, Boise Art Museum)

1997: Sandy Litchfield: Belonging – Solo Installation, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO