Sally Harris was at the fore of the Amaranthine Museum with artist Les Harris since its inception; his partner, muse, inspiration and constant support. Sally Harris lived love.  Her journey here on this very little planet was much like the journey of writer de Saint-Exupéry’s character in “The Little Prince”.  Like his, her sheep was drawn by an outline of a little box with holes.  Not encumbered by the outline, this beautiful little sheep was whatever she could see with Love. Her experience was vast, her reach far, her smile perfect, and Love, simply, the answer to everything.  And, she shared it with us all. She leaves behind a pulsating warmth in all of her extended family.   

When Sally was five years old, she won a Shirley Temple contest singing “On the Good Ship Lollipop.”  At 12, her mother paid 10 cents for her to take an acting class in Far Rockaway, sparking a life-long passion for performing.

In 1942 her parents, Libby and Harry Pomeran purchased the Mott Estate in Bellport, LI, NY and transformed it into The Gateway, a get-away resort for Christian Scientists. In the summer, Sally and her brother David and sister Ruthie would perform for the resort guests.

She attended the Principia College with a major in Art and Dance where she became good friends with actors Rick Morse and Robert Duvall and became active in the theatre program.  She received her M.A. from Antioch-Putney Graduate School of Education with a focus on Theatre and soon became the head of theater and folk dance at Putney.   Her graduate thesis was a production of “The Little Prince”, acknowledged by both Eleanor Roosevelt and the Head of the United Nations.

Sally moved to NYC where she continued her theater education at the Feagin School of Drama in Rockefeller Center and the Arnold Modeling Academy. She worked Off Broadway, toured with the Children’s World Theatre company with Jason Robards, and was a member of the Houston Playhouse Theatre.

Going home to Long Island, she convinced family and friends to help transform the Gateway barn into a performance space with an arena stage, using the haylofts as balconies. They moved Daisy the cow out to make room for dressing rooms and in 1950 opened The Gateway Playhouse Barn Theatre, inviting college and NY friends to perform. 

Christian Science led and inspired Sally throughout her life.  She met Les Harris (actor, dancer, artist) at church and invited him to take part in Gateway where they fell in love. They married in 1956 in the Gateway’s grand Stanford White designed ballroom and move to Albany, NY where they had three children (Laurel Durenberger, Heather Harris and Holly Harris).  Les, was from Baltimore and in 1962 finally brought the family home. They bought an old house in Bolton Hill and transformed it into a magical palace filled with music, art and love. 

Once in Baltimore, she worked with Children’s Theatre Association, taught speech and theatre at the Samuel Ready School, Park School Summer Program and finally at Villa Julie College (now Stevenson) where she founded the Inscape Theatre and grew it into the large Theatre and Communication Arts Department. 

In addition to her outstanding theatre career, she was the catalyst and muse in her husband’s creation of Amaranthine Museum located in Baltimore’s Woodberry neighborhood.  Sally Harris is survived by her three children, son in law Mark Durenberger and two grandchildren Christopher Durenberger and Aubrey Durenberger.

If you would like to pay homage to Sally Harris, we invite you to contribute to her memory in honor of the Amaranthine Museum.

“Fed by thy love divine we live, for Love alone is life; And life most sweet, as heart to heart, speaks kindly when we meet and part.” Mary Baker Eddy