Alfred University Alumna Kathleen McShane, who earned a B.F.A. degree from Alfred University in 1986, has been named a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow.
McShane joins the 100th class of Fellows selected by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, an honor awarded to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or creative ability in the arts. Chosen from a pool of nearly 3,500 applicants, McShane is one of 198 distinguished artists, writers, scholars, and scientists recognized this year across 53 disciplines. Her fellowship is a testament to a lifelong dedication to drawing and interdisciplinary creative practice.
A Cleveland native, McShane earned her B.F.A. from Alfred University and her M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her career has spanned several cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Austin. Most recently, she retired from Texas State University, where she taught drawing.
McShane’s artwork—marked by a language of reductive abstraction and psychological conceptualism—has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Drawing Center in New York, Weatherspoon Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and internationally in Ireland and Paris. Her work resides in major collections including the McNay Art Museum, Portland Museum of Art, and the Rose Art Museum. In 2018, Alfred University's Cohen Gallery hosted an exhibition, "Ikebana Ziggurat," which included work by McShane and Ellen Bahr, librarian at Alfred University’s Herrick Memorial Library.
Rooted in drawing, McShane’s practice expands into sculpture, painting, textile, and mobile forms. She challenges conventional boundaries through spatial experimentation, minimalism, and poetic mark-making. Her Guggenheim Fellowship will support continued exploration of these visual languages under the Foundation’s commitment to providing “the freest possible conditions” for independent work.
“We are thrilled to celebrate Kathleen’s extraordinary accomplishment," said Lauren Lake, dean of the School of Art and Design + Performing Arts Division at Alfred University. "Her achievements reflect the spirit of innovation, rigor, and imagination that defines an Alfred education."
The Guggenheim Foundation marks its centennial this year with this landmark class of Fellows, reinforcing its legacy of advancing intellectual and artistic life in America.
