Lynn Sondag has lived in San Francisco since 1995. She uses landscape painting to explore the ways we assign aesthetic value and a sense of belonging to our every day environments. For over twenty years she’s recorded the landscapes and neighborhoods in both in the U.S. and abroad. Lynn began working with themes of landscape painting and environmental aesthetics during her first international artist residency in Dresden, Germany. She’s also lived and attended artist residencies in India, Nepal, Italy, and Denmark, to develop series of paintings under this theme. She’s exhibited in both galleries and public spaces in San Francisco and other cities in the United States.
Lynn received her BFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA in Painting from the California College of the Arts (CCA). She is an Associate Professor of Studio Art in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Dominican University of California where she applies her extensive and varied background in arts education and community-engaged art.
EDUCATION
California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA, M.F.A Painting, with honors. 1997
Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, B.F.A. Painting, cum laude, 1990
EXPERIENCE
2007- present Chair, Dept. Art, Art History and Design, Dominican University of California
2009 –present Assistant Professor, Dept. Art, Art History and Design, Dominican University of California
2002 – 2007 Adjunct Faculty, Dept. Art, Art History and Design, Dominican University of California
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS and INSTALLATIONS
2020 “Lake District Landscapes”,” Avenue 12 Gallery
2018 “Park Stand,” Watercolors by Lynn Sondag, Fleet Wood Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016 “Summer’s Lease: Watercolors by Lynn Sondag,” San Marco Gallery, Dominican University, San Rafael, CA
2015 “Presidio Trails: Overlapping and Unfolding Narratives,” San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, Wallace Stegner Center for Environmental Art, San Francisco, CA.
“Creative Voices,” a public artwork with students of Dominican University and members of Downtown Street Team. Fourth and C Street, San Rafael, CA.
2013 “Facing the Gap: Educational Equity in Marin County,” a public artwork, part of the global Inside Out project. co-facilitated with Julia van derRyn.
2012 “Sea Cliff, Presidio and Ocean Beach,” Mystic Hotel, San Francisco, CA.
2010 “Looking Near and Far,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 “New Works,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“A New Horizon Line,” The Gallery, St Louis Public Library, Clayton, MO
2007 “Watercolors,” San Marco Gallery, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, CA
2005 “Ocean Beach Series,” Bay Model Visitor Center, Sausalito, CA “Watercolors,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 “Watercolors,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
ARTISTS RESIDENCIES AND FELLOWSHIPS
2017 PROYECTO ACÉ, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2009 Artist in Residence, Danish Council of the Arts, Hirsholmene, Denmark
2008 The Bau Institute Fellowship Program, Otranto, Italy
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 “Marin Masters,” Outdoor Art Club, Mill Valley, CA
“San Francisco Travel Association Annual Arts Exhibition,” curated by Art Span
2011 “Of Paper / On Paper,” San Marco Gallery, Dominican University, CA
“57 Degrees,” Gallery @ Thoreau Center for Sustainability, San Francisco, CA
“50/50: Fifty Paintings in Fifty Days,” Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
2010 “Triangle Gallery 50 Years of Artwork,” North First ARTSpace, San Jose, CA
“CCA Alumni Exhibition,” Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
2009 “Statewide Watercolor Exhibition,” Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
2008 “Works on Paper,” Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
2007 “CCA Centennial Alumni Exhibition,” Mont Clair Gallery, Oakland, CA
2006 “Fog Bay Tree,” Thoreau Center for Sustainability, San Francisco, CA
“New Work by Gallery Artists,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 “Bay Area Bazaar,” Pulliam-Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR
2004 “Looking Once Seeing Twice: Exploring Abstraction& Realism,” 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2003 “Unbound Vistas: Artists Interpret the Northern California Landscape,” St Mary’s College, Moraga, CA.
“Celestial Musings,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002 “Works on Paper,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 “40th Anniversary Exhibition,” Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 “Open Spaces: Installation Art,” Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
1997 “Graduate Honors Exhibition,” California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA
1999 – 2000 Vishwa-Bharati, Kala Bhavan; Shantiniketan, India
AWARDS
2013 San Rafael Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Education Award
2011 Academic Excellence Grant, Dominican University of California
2011 Teacher of the Year, Dominican University of California
GRANTS
2018
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $20,000
2017
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $20,000
2016
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $20,000
2015
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $20,000
2014
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $20,000
US Bank Grant $5,000
Umpqua Bank Grant $5,000
2013
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $18,000
US Bank Grant $5,000
2012
Marin Community Foundation Art Education Grant $12,000
Youth Leadership Institute Grant $600
Strategic Initiative Grant, Dominican University For “Urban Community as Canvas for Social
Change” $8,000
2011
Marin Community Foundation Arts Education Grant $12,000
Academic Excellence Grant, Dominican University $1,000
2010
LEF Foundation Grant $5,000
PUBLICATIONS
2011
Transformative Leadership, co-authored white paper for Think Tank 6: Artist Leading Chang
conference, sponsored by Integrative Teaching International, Lamar Dodd School of Art,
University of Georgia, Athens. GA.
Adjusting the Lens: Creating an Aesthetic Appreciation of the Environment, International Journal of the Arts in Society. Volume 5, Issue: 6, pp 79-88.
LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS/WORKSHOPS
2015
“A Conversation About Art & Place,” with Chief Park Officer Michael Boland, Koret Auditorium,
San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA
“Presidio Dialogues: A Conversation with Lynn Sondag,” Presidio Officers Club, San Francisco, CA.
“Watercolor Workshop,” two free public workshops for youth and adults, Latino/Hispanic
Center, San Francisco, Public Library, San Francisco, CA.
“Field Drawing Class,” (3) free public workshops for youth and adults at various locations in the
Presidio National Park, San Francisco, CA.
“Asking Big Questions: Cultivating Critical Consciousness and a Community of Creative
Practice,” presented at the 18th Annual Continuums of Service Conference, Long Beach, CA.
2013
“Inside Out: Facing the Gap: Community-Based Participatory Public Art Project.”
presented at the School of the Visual Arts National Conference on Liberal Arts and the
Education of Artist.
2012
“Building the Architecture of Inclusion for Higher Education.” A collaborative regional and national research project organized by Imagining America and the Center for Institutional Social Change formed to advance full participation and linking diversity and engagement.
“Beauty in the Struggle: Realizing Full Access to Higher Education,” presented at the Annual
Imagining America Conference, NYU, NY,NY.
“Big History: First Year Experience,” presented at the Asian Association of World Historians,
Second Congress of World Historians, Seoul, Korea.
2011
“SL Art Fundamentals”, poster presented at the Annual Imagining America Conference Minneapolis, MN.
“Engaged Learning,” presented at Dominican University of California
“Cultivate, Create, Connect,” presented at the Annual Academic Excellence Grant
Dominican University Academic Showcase, Spring 2011
2010
“Landscape Painting and Environmental Advocacy,” presented at Green, Greener, Greenest:
Romancing Nature Again, Annual Arts and Humanities Conference at the School of the Visual Arts, NY, NY.
“Adjusting the Lens: Creating an Aesthetic Awareness of Environment,” presented at the
International Arts in Society Conference, University of Sydney, Australia.
2009
“Visual Literacy Across Disciplines”, presented at Visual Literacy in Faith Based Institutions Symposium, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA
SELECT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
INHALE THERAPEUTICS
DANCE PHARMACEUTICALS
PRESIDIO TRUST
STANFORD MEDICAL CENTER
DR. PETER STANSKEY
BRUCE JOHNSTON, MD
FRANCIS FORD AND ELEANOR COPPOLA
