Adopted at birth, sheri experienced a tragic childhood in the growing suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona in the 1970’s. These experiences set the stage for a sixteen year battle with addiction and homelessness. The memory of a fourth grade art award created a path forward where crider eventually received an academic tuition waiver and a fine arts scholarship at the University of Arizona. She received a BFA in Ceramics and Queer Theory and went on to earn a MFA in Sculpture from the University of New Mexico.
Her work has been exhibited nationally with recent solo and important exhibitions at the University of New Mexico Art Museum, University of Arizona Museum of Art, and Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe. In MutualArt’s artist press archive, sheri crider is featured in Artists Defend Human Dignity in the Face of Institutional Dehumanization, a piece from the Hyperallergic in 2020. crider has been the recipient of grants and fellowships including the inaugural cohort of Open Philanthropy’s Right of Return Fellowship which supports the creation of original artworks to further criminal justice reform and the Andy Warhol Foundation. Her work has been reviewed in critically acclaimed periodicals including PBS Newshour, and Hyperallergic.
sheri thrives on connections, creating joy and beauty from discarded materials, people and communities. sheri’s expansive take on a creative practice creates spaces, objects and places that re-imagine and begin to unravel our complicated understanding of ourselves and our communities. The works that sheri creates takes both a micro and macro approach of understanding, participation and collaboration. Collaboratively and singularly sheri is deeply dedicated to creative pursuits that center on solace, respite, magic and belonging.