Nature in an abstract context brought me to building furniture expressed as sculpture beginning in the 1980s. Putting furniture aside for the many years that my focus had shifted from the floor to the wall, I have recently been integrating furniture ideas into some of my work. Wanting to create a context as well as needing a support for the subjects I carve, I searched for a solution other than the neutral gallery pedestal. A customized table provides this function as well as adding another set of associations and questions to the sculpture. I like the juxtaposition this offers to the finished piece.
I have also been working on some small relief carvings, taking an unscripted approach to building composition. Each work is a stand alone statement, win or lose. Here I can enjoy the intimacy of working small and the quietness that comes with using simple hand tools.
Kathran Siegel 2026
Born and raised in New York City, Kathran Siegel attended Bennington College, where she studied painting with Jules Olitsky and Paul Feeley, sculpture with Anthony Caro and David Smith, and printmaking with Vincent Longo. She worked towards an M.F.A. at the University of New Mexico, but at the invitation of Newton Harrison and Paul Brach, (shadow wives: Helen Harrison and Miriam Shapiro) stopped her studies to help develop the program for a new art department at the University of California at San Diego. Following these experiences, Siegel moved to a loft in N.Y.C. where she continued to paint. After a few years, she moved to Gainesville, Florida, where she taught at the University of Florida.
While working on an MEd., Siegel took a woodworking class, which led her into 25 years of making studio furniture and other carved and turned objects. Until her retirement from teaching in 2011, she combined her studio practice with teaching art in Florida and in and around Philadelphia, where she currently lives. Her work is in several regional museum and public art collections. She was awarded an NEA Ventures Grant and later an Andy Warhol Foundation Grant. She has published a monograph on the artist, Mildred Thompson, as well as articles on the arts and arts education. Siegel is currently a member of Muse Gallery in Philadelphia.
1972 - 1974
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
M.Ed and Post Graduate Studies
1966 - 1967
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
MFA program
1966
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
BFA
1962 - 1965
Bennington College, Bennington, VT
BFA
2015 - 2016
Artist Residency, Mt. Airy Custom Furniture, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
2005
Philadelphia Art and Education Partnership (PAEP)
Grant Exhibition Have A Seat, Helen Millard Children’s Gallery, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2004 - 2005
Philadelphia Art and Education Partnership (PAEP)
Grant, Teaching Artist working with 6th grade students in Philadelphia Public School
2003
First Place Award In Sculpture, Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Janet Fish
1998
Andy Warhol Foundation Grant
Selected by Carter Ratcliff to be part of a group of 4 writers to read, discuss and write art critical works
1993 - 1995
Artist-In-Residence, Grant recipient, Based in Duval County Schools. Funded through the Arts Assembly of Jacksonville, FL
1990
Art Ventures Grant, Jacksonville Community Foundation/NEA Co-funded
1987
Educator Award, "Special Recognition, Excellence in Education," presented by Arts Assembly, Jacksonville, FL
2003-2004
Adjunct Faculty Department of Art Education, Supervisor, Practicum Experience, Moore College Of Art And Design, Philadelphia, PA
2000 - 2002, and 2003
Adjunct Art Faculty, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA
2001 - 2011
Art Teacher, Philadelphia District Public Schools, Philadelphia, PA
2000
Instructor, Design II for Wood, Bucks County Community College Newtown, PA
2000 - 2001
Adjunct Faculty, Survey of Media and Design, Art Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
1989
Adjunct faculty, Art History, Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL
1982 - 1988
Visual Arts Head, Bartram School, Jacksonville, FL
1973 - 1978
Adjunct faculty, College of Education, University Of Florida, Gainesville, FL
1969
Adjunct Faculty, Fine Art Dept., University Of CA at La Jolla, San Diego, CA
1968 - 1969
Fine Arts Faculty appointment, University Of Florida, Gainesville, FL
2023
Solo Series: Kathran Siegel, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA
2022
Thinking With My Hands, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2016
Nature Walks (feature exhibition), a series of relief sculptures, Persimmon Tree, on-line arts magazine, Summer Issue, 2016
2015 - 2016
Captured Animals, Mt. Airy Custom Furniture Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005
Still Life/Real Life (A Second Look, Pfundt Gallery, James A. Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, PA
1996
Authenticity: Truth Or Fiction?, Duncan Gallery, Stetson University, Deland, FL
Inside-Out/ Recent Work of Kathran Siegel, Florida Craftsmen Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL
1993 - 1994
Authenticity: Truth Or Fiction?, Amerika Haus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1993
Authenticity: Truth Or Fiction?, Galerie Art Form; Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Still Life/Real Life, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, FL
1989
Kathran Siegel, Art & Architectural Design, Baltimore, MD
1986
Kathran Siegel, Ann O'Brien Gallery, Washington, DC
1983
Kathran Siegel, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, FL
2024
The Naked Show, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition, featuring works by 15 Gallery Artists
2023
1st Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Curator: Phyllis Floyd for Zeuxis
2023
Crafting Nature, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition
2023
Inspired By Nature, Shen Gallery, Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Invitational
2022-2023
Works In Wood, New Hope Arts Center, New Hope, PA
Juror’s Award
2020-2021
RIVERFRONT 20/20, as part of Abstraction, The Delaware Contemporary (Art Museum), Wilmington, DE
2020
Subversion, DaVinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
2018
Texas National, SFA Art Galleries, Nacodoches, TX
Juror: Jed Pearl
2014
Woodmere Museum Annual 73rd Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA
Juror, Sarah McEneaney
1997
The Chair Show II, Southern Highland Craft Guild, Folk Art Center, Asheville, NC
1995
Southeastern Fine Crafts Biennial Invitational Invitational Exhibition, Gulf Coast Art Center, Belleair, FL
Exhibition also traveled to DeLand Museum of Art, DeLand, FL
1986
Murray State University, Clara M. Eagle Gallery, Murray, KY
Plus one year traveling
1986
ART + ARCHITECTURE, The Public Art Trust, Washington, DC
Director, Elena Kanavier
1985
ANIMALS, The Public Art Trust, Washington, DC
Director, Elena Kanavier
1983
DESIGN U.S.A., Kjarvalsstadir Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
2008
Made in Italy: Il Chiostro, Broome Street Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Made in Italy: Il Chiostro, Broome Street Gallery, New York, NY
Solo Exhibition of Mildred Thompson, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL
(catalogue)
2024
MOCA Jacksonville, University of North FL, Jacksonville, FL
Stationary Screen Donated from the collection of the late Mary Ann Bryan of Jacksonville Beach, FL by her family
2002
James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
Gallery Bench purchase/commission to be utilized in museum gallery
2001
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Vanitas, permanent collection
1996
City Hall of Orlando, FL
Studio Break maquette
1995
Florida Gulf Coast Art Museum, Belleair, FL
Afternoon Table, permanent collection moved to another location
1994
Jewish Community Alliance, Jacksonville, FL
Commissioned sculpture for lobby
1993
Art in Public Places, City Hall of Orlando, FL
Studio Break
1984
Jacksonville Museum of Art, Jacksonville, FL
2 miniature sculptural paintings/pins added to permanent collection
1980
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Purchase award, carved Walnut Vessel
2002
Installation of Commissioned Gallery Bench, James A. Michener Museum Of Art, Doylestown, PA
Bruce Katsiff, Museum Director
"Curated Section by Guest Curator, Bridgette Mayer," Create Magazine, Issue 3, 2017, pages 148-149
“Kathran Siegel, Carving A Life." Persimmon Tree, Summer Issue 2016
Annual 73rd Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA, 2014, pages 19-21
(catalogue)
Moser, Grant “Wood you like to learn woodcarving at Woodmere.” Chestnut Hill Local, July 5, 2012
2023
Review pgs 8-9, “Armor Gallery Book Louise Freshman Brown,” Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts, Florida State College at Jacksonville, FL
2010
“How the Arts Lay a Foundation for Learning,” EDUCATION WEEK, Nov.3,2010 article in print and web editions
2001
Furniture Studio Two, “Art Furniture,” examining the compromised union of two traditions, Winter Ed. Cambium Press, Bethel, CT
1999
Furniture Studio Two, Fall edition, “A Bridge Between Art and Life,” Cambium Press, Bethel, CT
1997
“Mildred Thompson: Deep Space,” A Monograph, The Jacksonville MOCA, Jacksonville, FL
Siegel, Kathran, “How The Arts Lay a Foundation For Learning.” Education Week, November 3, 2010
Aimone, Steven, Design!: A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople, Lark Books, A Division of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. NY, 2004
Siegel, Kathran, “Art Furniture,” Furniture Studio Two, Winter, 2001
Siegel, Kathran, "A Bridge Between Art and Life." Furniture Studio, Cambium Press, Bethel, CT, 1999
