The Sculptor, Todd Victor McGrain

Todd Victor McGrain

MFA, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sculpture, is an Associate Professor of Art at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

selected professional awards, fellowships and grants

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship; Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy; Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship Award; Rensselaer County Council for the Arts Grant

selected exhibition venues

Museo Civico Zoologia, Rome, Italy; Rochester Zen Center, Rochester, NY; Maiden Lane Exhibit Space, New York, New York; 55 Mercer Street, New York, New York; 14 Sculptors Gallery, New York, New York; Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, Rhode Island; Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington; Big Rock Garden Park, Bellingham, Washington; Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, Washington; The Sculpture Path, Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, Massachusetts; Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, Massachusetts; Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, Minnesota; American Academy of Art, Chicago, Illinois; ARC Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin

selected lectures

Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island; School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont; Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, Oregon; Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California; Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York; University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; State University of New York-Albany, Albany, New York

Lost Bird mission statement

“They cannot drive out of a cloud, nor clap their wings in thunderous applause. They know no urge of seasons; they feel no kiss of sun, no lash of wind and weather, they live forever by not living at all.” Aldo Leopold, 1947
The Lost Bird Project recognizes the tragedy of modern extinction by immortalizing North American birds, which have been driven to extinction, including the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, the Labrador Duck, the Great Auk, and the Heath Hen.

“The bronze sculptures I am creating will be subtle, beautiful, and hopeful reminders. The human scale of each sculpture elicits a physical sympathy. The smooth surface, like a stone polished from touch, conjures the effect of memory and time. I model these gestural forms to contain a taut equilibrium, a balanced pressure from outside and from inside—like a breath held in. As a group they are melancholy, yet affirming. They compel us to recognize the finality of our loss, they ask us not to forget them, and they remind us of our duty to prevent further extinction.” Todd Victor McGrain