“Live It Up!” – The Artistic Life of Joelle Sander

The Cornwall Library presents “Live It Up!,” an art exhibition showcasing the work of the late West Cornwall resident Joelle Sander. The exhibition features twenty works on canvas curated in partnership with the library and Sander’s son, Jason Sander. Sander’s paintings depict her love for nature, taking inspiration from the birch trees, wintery woods, and scenic views of Litchfield County. Her most prominent painting, “Flowers,” showcases a three-dimensional texture reminiscent of another Cornwall artist, Don Bracken.

Alongside her paintings, attendees can read Sander’s first slim volume of poetry, “Margins of Light,” offering a dual experience of her twin passions throughout her lengthy artistic career.

Sander was also an accomplished author, having published “The Family: The Evolution of Our Oldest Human Institution” in 1978 while working as an instructor with the Institute of Children’s Literature. In 1992, she wrote “Before Their Time: Four Generations of Teenage Mothers” as a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence in Westchester County, N.Y., where she served as the associate director of The Center for Continuing Education and taught modern American poetry.