Ethan James McVay
they/them/he/him
Ethan James McVay holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and an art history minor from the University of Memphis. As an interdisciplinary artist, they work in installation, sculpture, and performance. Their work captures a grimy, crude depiction of “otherness” as they dissect their personal experience of being queer, white-passing, blue-collar, and from the South. Ethan has exhibited work at local galleries such as Crosstown Arts and the UrbanArt Commission. In 2022, they participated in the Penland School of Craft's winter residency. Ethan was also a 2021 intern and 2023 fellow in the UAC’s "New Public Artist Forum." Since 2022, they have engaged in other art fields as a contributor for Focus Mid-South Magazine and union stagehand with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stagehand Employment. They joined Rhodes College's Department of Art and Art History from 2023-2024, managing the sculpture, drawing, digital, and painting studios.
mud
Experience
Awards:
2024
Best of Wearable Art Category, Art & Fashion: Runway at the Museum, Brooks Museum, Memphis, Tennessee.
2021
Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award, (Collegiate), University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
2021
Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award, (Departmental), University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
Grants:
2021
Green Fee Grant, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
2021
Bridging the Distance Grant, UrbanArt Commission, Memphis, Tennessee.
Residencies:
2023
Penland School of Crafts, “Winter Residency”, two sessions, Penland, North Carolina.
2025
Crosstown Arts, Spring Residency, Memphis, TN
Fellowships:
2023-2025
UrbanArts Commission, “New Public Artist Forum”, Memphis, Tennessee.
Exhibition History:
2024
Fabricated Identies: Wearable Works from the Arts & Fashion Runway, Box Gallery at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
2024
Outliers, Arrow Creative, Memphis, Tennessee.
2024
Art & Fashion: Runway at the Museum, Brooks Museum, Memphis, Tennessee.
2023
New Public Artist Fellowship Exhibition, UrbanArt Commission, Memphis, Tennessee.
2022
Long Story Short, University of Memphis BFA show, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, Tennessee.
2021
Contingency Plan, University of Memphis BFA show, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, Tennessee.
2021
2021 Landscapes, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California.
2021
Bridging the Distance, (solo installation), Tiny Gallery at the UrbanArt Commision, Memphis, Tennessee.
2020
Southern Miss Ceramics National, Juried by Richard Notkin, University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
2020
The Next Big Thing, Juried by Leah Ollman, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, California.
2020
In Consideration, Organized by Lisa Williamson, Crosstown Arts 430 Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee.
2020
37th Annual Juried Student Exhibition, Juried by Tyler Stallings, Art Museum of the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
2019
Sculpture + Ceramic Show, Box Gallery at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
2019
Best of Memphis, Box Gallery at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
Media
The ‘Golden Fence’ and Balancing Personal and Public Art
Written by Bella Golightly | Focus Mid-South Magazine
