BIO
Cathy McClure's pivotal zoetrope piece, "Carnival of Life," earned her the prestigious Betty Bowen Memorial Award from the Seattle Art Museum the same year she received her MFA. This recognition launched her career, leading to gallery representation and a solo exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Subsequent solo exhibitions include the Milton Hershey Museum, Neuhoff/Edelman, Moss, and Art Basel Miami.
Residencies at Pilchuck Glass School, Les Frigos Paris, iolair Artist Residency, and the McColl Center for the Arts have broadened her constantly evolving material explorations. At iolair and McColl in 2024, she explored ceramics, paper mâché, photography, and printmaking, while continuing to engage her core themes.
McClure has created significant public art commissions, including the 2023 "A Place in the Woods" for the Seattle Convention Center Summit. She also served as the sole Artist Consultant (2016-2024) for the project, developing and implementing its public art program featuring 60 artists.
Her work is featured in prestigious collections, including the White House, the Pace Collection, and the CCS Bard Collection. In 2024, two sculptures were acquired by Public Art at SEA Airport in Seattle, and a solo exhibition is scheduled for September 2025 at Traver Gallery.
CV
BORN in Abilene, TX
RESIDES and works in Seattle, WA
EDUCATION
1997 MFA University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1995 BFA Texas Tech University, Cum Laude, Lubbock, TX
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Cathy McClure - Unearth, Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2021-2022 Cathy McClure: Re-Imagineering, School of Art Studio + Folio Gallery, TTU, Lubbock, TX
2020 Cathy McClure - ReImagineer, Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Lubbock, TX
2017-2018 Dispossessed, Center for Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
2014-2015 Revisionism, Method Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 Mickey Hardwired, Moss, New York, NY
2012-2013 Midway, Moss, New York, NY + Edelman Arts, New York, NY
2011-2012 Midway, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
2010-2011 Curiosities, Traffic Art Space, New York, NY
2010 Remains, Moss, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL
2009-2010 Menagerie, Nassau County Museum, Roslyn Harbor, NY
2009 Remains, Moss, New York, NY
2007 Menagerie, Neuhoff/Edelman Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Team Works, New Kinetic Sculpture, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
1999 Le Quai Fete, Les Frigos, Paris, FR
1998 Carnival of Life, Meyerson & Nowinski, Seattle, WA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Fall 2024 Artist-in-Residence Showcase, McColl Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
2024 Weird Earth, Base Camp Studios, Seattle, WA
2023 Seattle Art Fair, Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2023 Lab Test 2, 9th & Thomas, Seattle, WA
2023 Art on Paper, J Reinhart Gallery, New York, NY
2023 Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2023 XO23, Coliseum Theater, Seattle, WA
2023 Art on Paper, J Reinhart Gallery, New York, NY
2017-2018 Sabbath, Dorothy Saxe Invitational, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
2016 Giant Steps, King Street Station, Seattle, WA
2014 Pulse NY, Freight + Volume, New York, NY
2013 Art Southampton, Edelman Arts, The Hamptons, NY
2012 MOSS: Dialogues Between Art & Design, Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, NY
2012 St. Sebastian, Edelman Arts, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL
2011 MOSS: Design Miami: Andy Coolquit, Cathy McClure, Miami, FL
2011 The Collage Show, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Art Basel Miami Beach, Edelman Arts, Miami, FL
2008 The Toy Show, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, Manchester, CT
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Costello, Lindsey. One Really Great Thing to Do..Cathy McClure and John Kiley, The Stranger, September 2023
Davis, Brangien. ArtSEA: A playful barrage of collage at Seattle arts spaces, Crosscut, September 14, 2023
Kendall, Stacy. Breaking Boundaries: Seattle Artists Thrive in Self-Created Space, Gray Magazine, November 2023
Vansynghel, Margo. Seattle’s New Convention Center Features $7.75M in Local Art, January 25, 2023
American Contemporary Craft Exhibitions plus Cathy McClure at LHUCA, Lubbock, Glasstire, Texas, October 24, 2020
Wynkoop, Gena. Artist of the W eek: Cathy McClure, KOMO, Seattle Refined, March 23, 2019
Flock, T.S. Art in Focus: Cathy McClure’s “State of the Union” at CoCA, Vanguard, January 4, 2018
Boutiette, Isabel. Cathy McClure dissects toys in Dispossessed, Seattle Met, November 11, 2017
Frohne, Lauren. Robotic Art Reveals Beauty Beneath Toys, Seattle Times, Dec 5, 2014
Morris, Bob. Leaving the Shop, Not Curating, Behind, New York Times, October 3, 2012
Clemans, Gayle. Cathy McClure's 'Midway' at BAM, Seattle Times, July 28, 2011
Metcalf, Bruce. Remains: Cathy McClure, Metalsmith Magazine, Vol. 30, No. 3, Page 55. 2010
Vilades, Pilar. Now Showing / Stuffed Animals, Cuddly No More, New York Times, November 18, 2009
Kobasa, Stephen. Playing For Real-Reconsidering Childhood Things, Hartford Advocate, Feb 28, 2008
Baker , R. C. Best in Show – Cathy McClure Menagerie, Village Voice, November 20, 2007
Haden-Guest, Anthony. Fairs Please: Affordable Art Bus is Always on Time, Financial Times, January 6/7, 2007
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Public ART at SEA International Airport Permanent Collection, Seattle, WA
Seattle Convention Center Permanent Collection, Seattle, WA
Josh Rechnitz, New York, NY
White House Permanent Collection, Washington, DC
CCS Bard Permanent Collection, Annondale-on-Hudson, NY
The Pace Permanent Collection, New York, NY
Asher and Michelle Edelman, Glion, Switzerland
Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell, Hamden, CT
Barbara and Donald Tober, New York, NY
Les Frigos Permanent Collection, Paris, France
Guy and Nora Barron, West Bloomfield, MI
HONORS & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024 Artist in Residence, McColl Center for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
2024 Pilot Program - Invited Artist in Residence, iolair, Orcas Island, WA
2016-2024 Artist Consultant, Seattle Convention Center Summit Addition Project, Seattle, WA
2018-2022 Commissioned Artist, Seattle Convention Center Summit, Seattle, WA
2021 Invited Artist in Residence, Vashon Artist Residency, Vashon, WA
2020-2025 Public Artist Roster - Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia, WA
2015-2026 Public Artist Roster - The City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture's Public Art Artist Roster, Seattle, WA
2018 Invited Artist in Residence, Pilchuck School of Glass, Stanwood, WA
2014 Artist Trust Fellowship, Seattle, WA
1999 Artist in Residence, Les Frigos, Paris, FR
1997 Betty Bowen Memorial Award Grand Prize, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA