NY Times, 3/14/04 — "Her world is unusually brilliant in color, often rendered in a palette of effusive reds, pinks and yellows... She's a latter-day miniaturist working in the old-fashioned medium of egg tempera on board, picturing little epiphanic instants in a self-deprecating life-of-the-saints mode... It is tempting to call Ms. McEneaney an outsider or folk artist or a faux-naïf. But who exactly is outside what? Ms. McEneaney's works belong to a prolific tradition of painting that has flourished worldwide for centuries, in blissful ignorance or willful rejection of the vaunted vanishing point of High Renaissance art... Ms. McEneaney's paintings present a whole that the eye can both explore endlessly and disassemble easily. They show someone intently going about her life and life's work and form a portrait of the artist as an independent woman and devoted painter, strong, disciplined and grateful." — Roberta Smith

Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/8/04 — "...her art is a nuanced visual memoir, rich in narrative detail and emotional resonance ... a continuing memoir of a female artist examining the daily ebb and flow of her single life as an outside observer might. Her life becomes symbolic to others... As the exhibition unfolds, one is drawn ineluctably into her ambit... This energizing and enchanting exhibition delivered considerable satisfaction to me, as it should to you." — Edward J. Sozanski

NY Times, 5/10/02 — "Although Sarah McEneaney has a degree in fine arts, there's a strong outsider undercurrent in her work. Like Florine Stettheimer and Loren McIver, she might be called a consummate city rube. In her second solo show ... on the Upper East Side, she continues to paint herself, her home and studio, and her Philadelphia neighborhood with intimate precision.... One painting doubles our pleasure: it shows a community garden bordered by a big wall painted by Ms. McEneaney with a mural of the garden. In a self-portrait, the artist sprawls on a mango-colored bed with her two cats, with carefully indicated textures of wallpaper, brick and lace curtains pushing forward from the background. A third work depicts a trash-strewn lot with magical meticulousness.... Through strong color and by repeating details that often accumulate into abstract passages, Ms. McEneaney makes every centimeter of canvas count." — Roberta Smith

Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/28/99 — "McEneaney ... is painting diarist scenes from her life. She does so in a disarming, faux-naif style that convinces the viewer of her blunt honesty. She shows us her dreams, her memories, and her fantasies.... If one looks at McEneaney's work over a period of time, its quiet charm and poignancy can become apparent and appealing."