Blakeslee, Sarah, 1912-2005

Sarah Blakeslee (1912-2005) was an American painter known for her landscapes, still lifes, and portraits and was the wife of the painter, Francis Speight.

Blakeslee was born January 13, 1912 in Evanston, Illinois to Walter Conklin and Carolyn Van Akin Blakeslee. She moved often while growing up, living in Evanston, Washington, D.C., Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Muskegon, Michigan. In 1924, Blakeslee began studying art in Muskegon and Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago. When her family returned moved to Washington, D.C. the second time, she studied art at the Corcoran School of Art (1929-1931) before enrolling in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' (PAFA) Country School in Chester Springs(1931-1933). In 1933 Blakeslee won her first Cresson European Traveling Scholarship and followed this by enrolling in the PAFA's Philadelphia (1933-1934) location. There she won her second Cresson Scholarship and in 1935, she had her first solo exhibition at Calvert Studio in Annapolis, Maryland.

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