Tina Rath is an American multidisciplinary artist living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rath explores ideas in distinct bodies of work and projects guided by neuroaesthetics, Buddhist philosophy and explorations of beauty. Rath’s chosen materials contain a life force – exotic hard woods, animal furs, metals, stones and paper – and ride the sometimes challenging line of ethics and aesthetics. Her autonomous work is included in the permanent collections of the Renwick Museum at the Smithsonian, Dallas Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Art, the Museum of Art and Design in New York, NY, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and the Racine Museum of Art, Racine, WI. Rath’s work has been exhibited internationally at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and in Munich, Germany and nationally at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland ME, the deYoung Museum and the San Francscio Museum of Craft and Design, both in San Francisco, CA. Her work is found in numerous magazines, books, and private collections. Rath has published two books, The REQUIEM Project and HOME, a collection of recipes. The REQUIEM Project is Rath’s first public art work, an ongoing COVID memorial that engages community as collaborators and co-creators.
Exhibitions/Bio
Solo Exhibitions
T i n a R a t h
2025 The Requiem Project, Arrowmont School of Art, Gaitlinberg + Knoxville, TN
2024 As I Imagine It To Be, EXiT at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 The REQUIEM Project, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ
2021 REQUIEM, Milton J. Weill Gallery at 92Y, New York City, NY
2018 The Order of Beauty, Sienna Gallery, Lenox, MA
2010 Wanderlux, Sienna Gallery, Lenox, MA
2006 Amphiboly, Sienna Gallery, Lenox MA, catalog
2004 Allure, Hay Gallery, Portland ME
2002 Heavy Petting, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley CA
1999 Lineage, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Constellations, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX catalog
Wunderkammer: The Collection of Susan Beech, Museum of Art and Design, San Francisco, CA catalog
Where Have All the Flowers Gone? EXiT at Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 HOME, Drawing Room SF_ANNEX, San Francisco, CA
2023 DeYoung Open 2023, DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA Degrees of Commitment, Arrowmont School of Art, Gatlinburg, NC
2021 Component Parts: Artworks Made of Multiple Elements, Racine Museum of Art, Racine WI
2019 Schmuck ’18, Munich, Germany catalog
2018 Kala Institute Artists Annual, Kala Institute, Berkeley, CA
2016 FOG Design + Art, San Francisco, CA represented by Sienna Gallery
2012 Out on a Limb, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
2011 Geography 2011, SNAG Conference, Seattle, WA and SOFA NY catalog Art of Adornment: Studio Jewelry, The Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ
2009 Body/Image, Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Western Michigan University,Kalamazoo, MI Archeology Above Ground, Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, ME catalog
2008 Contemporary Jewelry: Channels of Communication, Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, GA catalog
Masters of Disguise, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
2007 Portland Museum of Art Biannual, Portland Museum of Art Portland, ME catalog Tiny, Whitney Art Works, Portland ME
SOFA NY + Chicago, represented by Sienna Gallery
The Edges of Grace: Provocative, Uncommon Craft, Fuller Craft Museum Brockton, MA 100 Brooches, Pacini-Lubel Gallery Seattle, WA
2005 SOFA New York, represented by Sienna Gallery
Possession of Purpose, Sienna Gallery, SOFA Chicago catalog Exhibition in Motion, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH
2004 SOFA New York, represented by Sienna Gallery
2003 Current Directions: Studio Art Jewelry, Delaware Center for the Arts, Wilmington, DE Biennale de Bijou Contemporain de Nimes, Nimes, France
2002 Dis Play, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL catalog
Schmuck ’02, Munich Germany + Edinburgh, Scotland catalog
SOFA New York, represented by Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley CA Material Explorations, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY Generating Connections, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
2001 Jewelry as Installation, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Vanity of Vanities, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, WI
2000 Sweden + USA , Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco CA, Galleri Metallum, Stockholm, Sculpture to Wear, Los Angeles, CA catalog
Kunst Aanmoedigingsprijs Amstelveen, Galerie Amstelveen, Amstelveen, NL catalog
2000 SOFA NY + Chicago represented by Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley CA
1999 Shadow of Memory, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Personal Memory Bytes, Facere Jewelry Art, Seattle, WA
SOFA Chicago, represented by Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
1998 New Views, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Wired! OXOXO, Baltimore, MD
3rd Annual Best of America, Stones Gallery, San Francisco, CA Flux…Five Studio Jewelers College of Marin, San Rafeal, CA
1997 Crafts National 31, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, PA Objects of Desire, Tercera Gallery, Palo Alto, CA Materials Hard and Soft, Meadows Gallery, Denton, TX
1996 19th Annual Vahki Exhibition Galleria Mesa, Mesa, AZ
Projects
2023-25 Feast: Contemporary Jewelry from the Susan Beech Collection, Arnoldsche, 2025. Art Director.
| 2020 | The REQUIEM Project A COVID-19 memorial project. ongoing |
| 2011 | Poemophone/Lexicon A collaborative performance project with Tracey Cockrell. |
| Portland, OR | |
| 2004 | Sensuous Matter A co-curated exhibition of 6 American artists exploring different ideas |
| of sensuality and the body. June Fitzpatrick Gallery, Portland, ME | |
| 2001 | “Miss Protocol” A collaborative project to design a new accessory using the Miss |
| Protocol watch face. First presented at the Georges Pompidou Centre, Paris, France | |
| Netherlands Bont Instituut Commission to create a fur jewelry collection. | |
| 2000 | “Over Sieraden” A 4-part jewellery presentation project involving four age groups. |
| Amstelveen, NL in conjunction with the Kunst Aanmoedigingsprijs. |
Public + Private Collections
Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, Little Rock, AK Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Houston Museum of Art, Houston, TX
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Porter-Price Collection, SC
Racine Museum of Art, Racine, WI
Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, DC Susan Beech, Tiburon, CA
Stanford Health Care Collection, Palo Alto, CA
Education
2001 MFA Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam, NL
1990 BFA University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Residencies
2016 Kala Institute Artist in Residence, Berkeley CA
2013 Haystack Open Studio Residency, Artist in Residence, Haystack, Deer Isle ME
Grants
2008 Good Idea Grant, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta, ME
2006 Faculty Development Grant, Maine College of Art, Portland ME 2005 Faculty Development Grant, Maine College of Art, Portland ME 2005 Good Idea Grant, Maine Arts Commission, Augusta ME
2003 Faculty Development Grant, Maine College of Art, Portland ME
Bibliography
2025 Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art, DMA, 2025 Feast: Contemporary Jewelry from the Susan Beech Collection, Arnoldsche, 2025.
2024 The REQUIEM Project, Tina Rath, 2024.
HOME, Tina Rath, 2024.
2017 Exhibition in Print 2017, Metalsmith, p. 37, volume 37, no.4, 2017.
2011 21st Century Jewelry Lark Crafts 2011.
2009 Compendium of Jewelry, Darling Publications 2009. Inspired Jewelry Museum of Arts and Design, 2009.
2008 “For the Love of Nature: Biophilia and Contemporary Jewelry”, Maura C. Flannery, article.
Metalsmith, pp. 34-41, volume 28, no. 3, 2008. The Art of Jewelry: Wood, Lark Books, 2008.
2006 Amphiboly, Q Press, 2006. Exhibition catalog.
500 Necklaces, Marjorie Schick, Lark Books, 2006. PMC Decade, Brynmorgen Press, 2006
2005 Possession of Purpose, Q Press, 2005. Exhibition catalog.
2004 Is there a Jewelry Avant-garde?”, Bruce Metcalf, article. Metalsmith, pp. 14-15, volume 24, no. 3, summer 2004.
Exhibition in Print 2004, Metalsmith, page 40, volume 24, no. 4.
2003 Art Jewelry Today Dona Meilach. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; May 2003.
“La Biennale qui monte, qui monte…”, article. Alteliers d’Art, pp. 8-9, no. 47, Sept-Oct.
2002 “The Virtues of Unwearability”, Tacey Rosolowski, article. Metalsmith,,pp. 20-27, vol. 22, no. 2, spring 2002.
2001“Vanity of Vanities”, Micheal Ann Carley, article. Metalsmith, pp. 36-45, volume 21, no 2, spring 2001.
2000 “Tina Rath, Maria Phillips, Nancy Deal”, Harriete Estel Berman, review. Metalsmith, p. 45, volume 20, no. 1, winter 2000.
Teaching
2013 VISITING LECTURER, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI courses taught: graduate seminar, graduate studio, jewelry 4
2011 ADJUNCT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR courses taught: thesis research and writing, art and design in contemporary society
2002-2010 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2006-2010 DEPARTMENT CHAIR, Jewelry and Metalsmithing
courses taught: jewelry 1,2, majors studio, 3D design, interdisciplinary design, professional practices
1997-1999 LECTURER, Continuing Studies, California College of Art, Oakland CA courses taught: jewelry and metalsmithing design and fabrication
Public Lectures
2018 Order of Beauty, Brooklyn MetalWorks, Brooklyn, NY
2016 What if…?, FaceBook, Palo Alto CA
2010 Studio Practice, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
2009 Wanderlux, Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, ME
2009 Studio Practice, Colorado State University, CO
2009 Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
2006 Razor’s Edge, Of Mind and Matter, SNAG Conference, Chicago, IL
1999 Lineage, SOFA Chicago, IL
Visiting Artist and Workshops
2018 Carving Workshop, Facebook Campus, Palo Alto, CA
2010 Visiting Artist, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA Visiting Lecturer, California College of Art, Oakland, CA
2009 Visiting Artist, Sight, Cite, Site workshop, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO Visiting Artist, Material Considerations workshop, University of Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI
2008 Visiting Artist, University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA
2007 Visiting Artist, Rhode Island College, Providence RI
Carving, workshop, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
2006 Visiting Artist, University of the Arts, Crafts Department, Philadelphia, PA Material Content, workshop, Haystack, Deer Isle, Maine
Independent Study Advisor – Intersection of Clothing and Jewelry, MECA
2005 Visiting Critic, Rhode Island School of Design, Graduate Students, Jewelry and Metalsmithing Department, Providence RI
Independent Study Advisor – Drawing Microscopically, MECA
1998 Guest Lecturer, University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA
1997 Guest Lecturer, Academy of Art, San Francisco CA
