Mark Calderon was born in Bakersfield, CA. He received his BA from San Jose State University. The artist has received several “Seattle Artists” awards from the Seattle Arts Commission and been awarded many public commissions throughout the country. He has been the recipient of artist grants from Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York; Artist Trust, Seattle and Art Matters, New York as well as the Seattle Art Museum’s 1986 Betty Bowen Award recipient. Calderon’s work is included in several prominent public and private collections, including: Boise Art Museum, ID; Seattle Art Museum; Tacoma Art Museum, WA. Clark College, Vancouver, WA; Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; SAFECO Corporation, Seattle and Boeing Corporation, Chicago, IL.

Born in 1955 in Bakersfield, CA; resides in Seattle.

EDUCATION

1978 B.A., San Jose State University

ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2016

Show of Hands, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle (also 2013, 2009, 2003, 1999, 1996, 1994, 1991, 1988, 1985)

2007

Sculpture: A Survey, Bellevue Community College, Bellevue, WA

2005

Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT

1999

Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York

1997

Santos, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA

1994

Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland (also 1991, 1989, 1987)

1991

Sculpture, Eastern Washington University, Cheney

1990

Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York

1988

Evergreen Galleries, Evergreen State College, Olympia

1987

Documents Northwest: The Poncho Series, Seattle Art Museum (catalog)

1980

San Jose Art Center

1978

American Standard Series, San Jose State University, San Jose

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022-2023

Reverberations: Contemporary Art and Modern Classics, Seattle Art Museum

2016

Beyond Aztlán: Mexican and Chicana/o Artists in the Pacific Northwest, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA

2013

First Light, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA

Eduardo Calderon: Portraits of 20 Northwest Artists, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA

2010-11

Animal Instinct: Allegory, Allusion, and Anthropomorphism. John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI; curator Leslie Umberger

2008

25th Anniversary Exhibition, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA

Century 21, Wright Exhibition Space, Seattle, WA

2006

Made in Seattle, Seattle, WA

2004

New Prints 2004/Summer, International Print Center New York

Natural Forces: Earth, Air, Fire And Water, Boise Art Museum, ID

2003-04

International Abstraction: Making Painting Real, Seattle Art Museum

2000

American Printmaking Masters, Part II, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA

1999

Northwest Art/Asian Affinities, Seattle Art Museum, curated by Trevor Fairbrother

Holding Light: Contemporary Glass Sculpture, Austin Museum of Art, TX

1998

¡Cálido!, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Betty Bowen Award 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Seattle WA

Colores del Pueblo, Seattle Center Exhibition Pavilion

Looking To Nature, Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, WA

1997

The Garden Show, Lutz Tire Building No. 2, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, OR

Surrogacy, Greg Kucera Gallery

¡Cálido! Contemporary Warm Glass, Tucson Museum of Art, AZ

West Coast Painting and Sculpture 1997 (continuous slide presentation), Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA

Pure Form: The Intensity of Process, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

1996

The Essential Object, Palo Alto Cultural Center, CA

Soy Un Testigo, Salt Lake Art Center, UT

Limited Edition Artists' Designs Project (LEAD), Seafirst Gallery, Seattle and Spokane Center

Fahrenheit '96, Bellevue Community College, Bellevue, WA

16th Annual Northwest International Art Competition, Whatcom Museum of Art, Bellingham, WA

Family Matters, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle (catalog)

Voices/Voces, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR

Seen and Unforeseen: The Path of AIDS, Bush Barn, Salem, OR

1995

The Traditional Impulse, Greg Kucera Gallery (catalog)

Anniversary Exhibition, Jamison/Thomas, Portland, OR

Selections from the Museum of Religious Art, Greenville College, Greenville, IL

Richness in Diversity, SAFECO Corporation Plaza, Seattle

1994

Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS, Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, MO

Fabricated Nature, Boise Art Museum

Reencuentros/Reencounters, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago and Concepcion, Chile

1993

California Crafts Museum, San Francisco

Time Away: Prints from Centrum’s Artist Residency Program, Tacoma Art Museum

Pacific Northwest Annual, Bellevue Art Museum

Walla Walla Foundry: Selected Sculptures, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle

The Betty Bowen Legacy: Fourteen Years of Award Winning Art, Security Pacific Gallery, Seattle

On Paper/Recent Acquisitions, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

1992

Recent Acquisitions/New Inventory, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle

Sacred Forms Revisited, Security Pacific Gallery, Seattle

Dreams and Shields: Contemporary Spiritual Art, Salt Lake Art Center (catalog)

Spirit of the West, traveling exhibition, sponsored by West One Bank

1991

Great Work, Bill Bace Gallery, New York

Glass: Material in the Service of Meaning, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

Big Objects, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

View From the Edge, Index Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, WA

1990

God & Country, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle (catalog)

Washington Centennial Portfolio, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA

Contemporary West Coast Sculpture, Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland

1989

Personal Symbols, Marylhurst College, OR

Gallery Artists, Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York

Natural Selections, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle (catalog)

The Northwest Annual, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle

Discreet Formalities, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle

1988

Summer 1988-Selected Works, Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, CA

Pacific Northwest Arts Exhibition, Bellevue Art Museum, WA

Betty Bowen Memorial Award Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Seattle Art Museum (catalog)

1987

Painting and Sculpture ‘87, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

1986

New Sites/New Work, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA

Neo-Rustic, Theatre Gallery, Los Angeles

1985

Painting and Sculpture ‘85, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

1983

Northwest Juried Art ‘83, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA

Painting and Sculpture 1983, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

1979

California State Art Exhibition, Sacramento (also 1978)

1979

10th Annual Regional Exhibition, San Jose Art Center

1978

9th Annual Regional Exhibition, San Jose Art Center

AWARDS, GRANTS AND COMMISSIONS

2001

The Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, New York

2000

Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship, Seattle

1999

“Pluma” sculpture commission for entry driveway of Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle

1997

Seattle Artists award, Seattle Arts Commission

1996

Limited Edition Artists' Designs Project (LEAD), Art in Public Places Program, Washington State Arts Commission

Residence award at Bullseye Glass Factory, Portland, OR, Artist's Projects Program

GAP Grant, Artist Trust, Seattle

1995

Artist Grant, Allied Arts, Seattle

Fellowship Award, Art Matters Foundation, NY

1994

Sculpture commissions for Garfield, Delridge, Meadowbrook, Bitter Lake, Ranier Community Centers, Seattle. Seattle Arts Commission.

1993

WESTAF/NEA Regional Fellowship for Visual Arts for distinguished achievement in sculpture

Juror Award, Pacific Northwest Annual, Bellevue Art Museum

Pratt Fine Arts Center, residence award, Seattle

1992

Seattle Artists Award, Seattle Arts Commission

1991

Artist Fellowship, Washington State Arts Commission

GAP Grant, Artist Trust, Seattle

1989-90

Centrum Centennial Project, residence award at Walla Walla Foundry

1989

Seattle Artists award, Seattle Arts Commission

Sculpture Award, Pacific Northwest Arts Exhibition, Bellevue, WA

1989

Fellowship Award, Art Matters Foundation, NY

1988

Sculpture Award, Pacific Northwest Arts Exhibition, Bellevue, WA

1987

Lester Baskin Memorial Award, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

1986

Betty Bowen Award, Seattle Art Museum, WA

1985

Second Place, Painting and Sculpture 1985, Tacoma Art Museum, WA

1983

Cash Award, Architecture as Art, Arts Northwest, Seattle

1981

Honorable Mention, Works on/with Paper, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA

1979

Third Place, California State Art Exhibition, Sacramento

COLLECTIONS

Axelrod Investment Company, Seattle

Bailey-Boushay House, AIDS Housing of Washington, Seattle

Boeing Corporation, Chicago, IL

Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle

Clark College, Vancouver, WA

Davis, Wright, Riese, Todd & Jones Law Firm, Seattle

Diamond & Sylvester Law Firm, Seattle

Good Samaritan Community Healthcare, Seattle

KIRO, Inc., Seattle

Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA

Minot State College, ND

Nordstrom, Scottsdale, AZ

Oregon Arts Commission, Portland

Oregon Justice Department, Portland

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood, Minneapolis

SAFECO Corporation, Seattle

Saks Fifth Avenue, Portland

Seattle Arts Commission, City Light

Seattle Arts Commission, Water Department

Seattle Art Museum

Skinner Corporation, Seattle

Swedish Hospital, Seattle

Tacoma Art Museum, WA

United Pacific Insurance Company, Seattle

University of Washington Medical Center Art Program, Seattle

Walker Richer Quinn, Inc., Seattle

Washington State Arts Commission, Spokane School District, Spokane

November 13, 2024
King 5, New Day Northwest
Nancy Guppy shares 5 upcoming art events and an update on the Seattle Channel
by Suzie Wiley

November 7, 2024
Cascade PBS (formerly Crosscut)
ArtSEA: Amid shifting national tides, NW art brings perspective
by Brangien Davis

December 2016
Seattle Magazine
A 'Show of Hands' for Enduring Seattle Artist, Mark Calderon
Celebrated artist Mark Calderon marks 30 years in Seattle with his 10th solo show at Greg Kucera Gallery
by Florangela Davila

November 22, 2016
The Seattle Times
At Greg Kucera, catch 2 Seattle artists at the top of their game Reviews of two masterful exhibitions at Greg Kucera Gallery: Mark Calderon's "Show of Hands"
and Jeffrey Simmons' "Open Work: Recent Watercolors."
by Michael Upchurch

November 29, 2016
Seattle Met,
A Fiendish Conversation with Mark Calderon
The Seattle artist creates hands of stone and fighters of felt for his new Greg Kucera Gallery exhibit, 'Show of Hands.'
by Seth Sommerfield

May 28, 2013
Seattle Met
The Yin and Yang of Twenty-First Century Masters
By Sheila Farr

May 31, 2013
The Seattle Times
At Kucera Gallery: Mark Calderon, Sherry Markovitz
By Michael Upchurch

June 12, 2013
The Stranger
Death of a Teenager: The Specific and General Sorrows of Mark Calderon
By Jen Graves