Sarah Hempel Irani has been sculpting expressive figures in clay, bronze, and stone for over twenty years. Originally from Michigan, she moved to Maryland to apprentice with the former artist-in-residence at the Washington National Cathedral. 

Sarah recently installed a 7’6” bronze monument to fashion icon, Claire McCardell, in a city park in Frederick, Maryland. Previously, she sculpted two larger-than-life-sized marble saints, now in the sanctuary at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. 

Sarah has been a visiting artist and speaker at Ave Maria University, Grove City College, Slippery Rock University, Covenant College, the Rotary “Pathways to Peace” Conference, as well as numerous religious and civic organizations. In addition, she has been a guest on the “United Lutheran Seminary Explores”, “Makers & Mystics”, and “Living from the Soul” podcasts. Sarah’s work has been featured in Women’s Wear Daily, Threads, Baltimore Magazine, and several local news stations and magazines. 

She lives with her husband, their daughter, and a border collie named Tom Sawyer in a tiny brick house near Washington, DC. When she’s not working in the studio, Sarah is digging in the garden, planning her next travel adventure, or listening to Brahms.