Sally Graves Machlis is a Professor of Art and Design and Art Education at the University of Idaho. In an innovative appointment, she is a faculty member of both the College of Art and Architecture and the College of Education. She served as chair of Art and Design from 2000 to 2004 and began a new term again in 2010.

Professor Machlis received her Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from the University of Washington and her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Idaho.

At the University of Idaho, Machlis teaches elementary and secondary art methods and drawing and painting courses. She is currently teaching Art 100, World Art and Culture, a core art appreciation course. Machlis has been awarded the University of Idaho Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching three times.

Professor Machlis exhibits her artwork regionally and nationally in juried, invitational and solo exhibitions. Her mixed media collages and paintings incorporate maps, charts, photographs and other symbols of human organization. Influenced by a recent sabbatical in Taiwan her recent work includes abstract paintings and books using Chinese ink. Her work has been included in exhibitions from Washington, D.C. to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Havana, Cuba. Most recently she has exhibited in Taiwan, Idaho and Chicago.

Machlis is very active in educational outreach in the state of Idaho and nationally. She has been instrumental in working with teachers who wish to obtain distance MAT degrees at the University of Idaho. She is a member of the Women’s Caucus for Art and the National Art Education Association and was appointed by the Governor to serve as a commissioner on the Idaho Commission on the Arts.