Sarah Eckstine

Sarah Eckstine is an Affiliate Instructor in the Art and Design Department at Bradley University's Slane College of Communications & Fine Arts, where she teaches photography courses including Photographic Appreciation, Basic Black and White Photography, and Photographic Portfolio. She holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in Photography from Illinois State University, along with a Graduate Certificate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Her artistic practice integrates digital and analog photography, alternative processes, and writing to explore themes of chronic illness, female sexual health, and bodily autonomy through self-portraiture and autobiographical narratives. Her work has been exhibited widely across the United States, including at Filter Photo in Chicago, Woman Made Gallery, the Midwest Center for Photography, and in a solo exhibition titled From The Inside at Rachel Cooper Gallery in 2023. Her photographs have been published in prominent art magazines such as Shots Magazine, Curious Magazine, and Aeonian Magazine.

Sarah has received several honors, including the Rhonda Nicol Memorial Book Award for her research on vaginismus and the 2nd Place Juror’s Award at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. She was also a resident artist at Mother’s Milk in Newton, Kansas. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges visual art, feminist theory, and personal narrative, making her a distinctive voice in contemporary photographic art.

• BFA Photography, Maryland Institute College of Art
• MFA Photography, Illinois State University
• Graduate Certificate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Illinois State University

Scientific and Artistic Awards:

• Jim Burger ’82 Senior Thesis Project Award
• A. Claire Gaskins Harper ’41 Scholarship
• 2nd Place Juror’s Award, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (2021)
• Robert W. Small Award in Art History, Illinois State University
• Rhonda Nicol Memorial Book Award, Illinois State University Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Symposium

Sarah Eckstine actively contributes to art education and feminist discourse through teaching, creative practice, and research. While no formal advising or grant information is available, her residency and publication record demonstrate sustained engagement with academic and artistic communities. She is also involved in interdisciplinary scholarship connecting photography with gender studies and health narratives.