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Cathy McClure
Cathy McClure (Seattle, WA) is an antidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of metalsmithing, mechanical engineering, and optical phenomena. Born in Texas and raised in Arkansas, McClure earned her BFA from Texas Tech University (1995) before establishing her practice in the Pacific Northwest. In 1997, the same year she received her MFA from the University of Washington, she was awarded the Seattle Art Museum's Betty Bowen Memorial Award. Her subsequent career features solo museum exhibitions at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Nassau County Museum, and the Bellevue Arts Museum, alongside solo presentations at Art Basel Miami Beach and New York representation through Asher Edelman and Murray Moss. From 2016 to 2024, she balanced her independent studio practice—including a residency at the Pilchuck Glass School—with her role as the sole Artist Consultant for the $2B Seattle Convention Center Summit expansion. In this civic capacity, she worked alongside a dedicated art team to build its $7.75M public art program while concurrently conceptualizing her own permanent lobby commission, A Place in the Woods. Represented by Traver Gallery since 2023, her recent achievements include fellowships at the McColl Center and iolair. Her work is held in prominent public and private collections, including The White House, CCS Bard, Hinton House (UK), and the Public Art at SEA Collection, which acquired two of her works in 2024. In 2026, she received a commission from the Seattle Art Museum for Unstuffed, a nine-foot figure installed at the Olympic Sculpture Park through September 7, 2026. Separately, a 2026 Art Projects for Individuals grant from 4Culture supports the next phase of this larger-than-human scale trajectory: developing a foundry-ready casting prototype toward a permanent, large-scale bronze.Browse all performers