Artist Bio

Grace Barden is an artist and metalsmith, based in Lewes, Delaware. Born and raised in the heart of Wisconsin, she creates work that explores themes of feminism, grief, and matrilineage, often drawing from deeply personal experiences. As a second-generation metal artist, Barden’s practice is profoundly influenced by her mother, whose creativity informs her passion for craft. Her work has been exhibited across the Midwest, showing at the 407 Gallery of Green Bay, the Rahr West Art Museum of Manitowoc, the Ella Sharp Museum of Jackson, Michigan, and the Gallery at Kenilworth Square East in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Barden held an internship with Jost Jewelry Manufacturing, where she achieved the first ever awarded Advanced Apprentice Graduate in Professional Jewelry Making & Repair certificate through the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America & U.S. Department of Labor. She recently graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio arts, studying jewelry and metalsmithing, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Barden currently works for the Heidi Lowe Gallery as a bench jeweler in preparation for graduate school, while keeping a consistent studio practice going.