The Sari Khoury collection consists primarily of materials related to Khoury's work as a painter and teacher at Central Michigan University. It is divided into four series: Biographical, Exhibitions, Photographs, and Topical Files.
Sari Khoury was born on March 13, 1941 in Jerusalem, Palestine. As a result of continuing war, in 1948 his family moved to Ramallah. They lived there until 1959 when they emigrated to the United States, to pursue greater educational opportunity for Sari and his siblings. Sari received his Bachelor of Fine Art from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1963 and his Masters of Fine Art from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1965. He taught at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky from 1965-1967. Sari Khoury was hired as an assistant art professor at Central Michigan University in 1967 and then received tenure in 1972. He was eventually promoted to department chair and continued to teach at CMU until shortly before his death in 1997 from cancer. During his life Sari Khoury was a prolific painter, usually in the non-figurative style, and displayed his paintings in galleries in Europe, Japan, and the United States. He was very involved with Arab-American issues, and participated in many exhibitions and festivals celebrating Arab artists.
