CHEZ PRAS

• Lead Designer
  Sarah Madeleine T. Guerin
• Prize
  Winner in ARTISTIC FOOTWEAR, Winner in RECYCLED MATERIALS / CLOSED LOOP MANUFACTURING
• Expertise
  Independent

"Boots" built with the sophisticated knowledge and skills of traditional hand-made western bootmaking, this piece explores themes of abuse, power, and protection. Aside from the red vibram heel cap and adhesives/thread, piece is made entirely of found materials: leather from discarded bags/skirts/scrap 2,200 Xacto blades were collected over 20 years and hand-embroidered with no protection as an exercise in hyper-focus and control on the outside of the piece, this interior detail of a dysfunctional heel slide is a literal reference to spines and their metaphors, but also a warning to keep away.

Bio
A bicultural French-American artisan, Saboteuse builds Western boots by hand using traditional tools.
Driven by creative process, she intentionally combines bootmaking, artmaking, historical research, and public engagement to better understand relationships between knowledge and quality. Steeped in tradition, her work illustrates meticulous craftsmanship and unique, thoughtful creativity.
Sarah’s provocative bootmaking practice is but one part in a life-long body of work. With every stitch and decision, Sarah slowly builds beautiful handmade aetworks that tell a good story.

Other prizes
5 works in “Hand Made in America: Contemporary Custom Footwear” – Center for Design and Material Culture at University of Wisconsin 2023 “Flags of our Foremothers Boots” – boots in “Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour” – Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art 2022-2023 Bootmaking Presentation The Dublin Seminar at Historic Deerfield 2022 Traditional Arts Finalist Award Mass Cultural Council 2022 West Newbury, Lynn, Georgetown, Stoneham MA Cultural Grants “Ten Footers” & Bootmaking 2022 “LEAN”- sculpture in “art + gender” - The Harlow Gallery Hallowell, ME 2021 Cerf+ “Get Ready” Grant Cerf+ 2021 Public Artist Learning Fund Grant New England Foundation for the Arts 2021 MCC Traditional Arts “Mentor Artist” 2020-2022 Lynn MA Cultural Grant 2021 Stoneham MA Cultural Grant 2021 Georgetown MA Cultural Grant 2021 Marblehead MA Cultural Grant 2021 “LEAN”- a sculpture in “Variations – Art in a Spectrum of Style and Substance” -Marblehead Arts Association 2021 Artist Relief Grant United States Artists 2020 Art at a Distance Cicada Boston 2020 Cerf+ Artist Safety Net Grant 2020 Cambridge Artist Relief Grant Cambr. Community Foundation 2020 Artist in Residence* Society of Arts+Craft Boston 2020 “CHEZ PRAS Boots” in KICKS!* Society of Arts+Craft Boston 2020 1st Place Footwear Design The Knitting Guild Assn. 2018 FootwearMakersGuild Symposium 1st Place in Mens Footwear 2018 World Leather Debut 2nd Place in Cowboy Boots 2018 Awesome Foundation Grant “Ten Footer” Zoning Project 2017 World Leather Debut 2nd Place in Boots 2017 Vogue Knitting Live Design Contest Finalist 2013 *Society of Arts+Craft closed its space in early 2020, cancelling AiR and Exhibit's