2023 Design and Build Fellow Erica Rawson

In 2023, MOA welcomes Erica Rawson as its fourth Design and Build Artist Fellow! Erica will mentor and lead the summer 2023 Design and Build Interns on their collaborative project with the help of resource artist, Walter Ware.

Erica Rawson is an artist and metal fabricator working in Denver, CO. Her art is based in sculpture, painting, poetry, and collage. Erica explores the unseen emotions and rhythms in our lives for which we have no physical receipt. These moments are depicted through oil-marbled figures and metal abstracts reflecting space and time.

Erica realized a need to make her metal framework in 2013 and apprenticed with a local metal fabricator, Brian Mueller. This experience led to a career in metal fabrication in which she built pieces for local businesses such as 715 Club, American Bonded, Squire Lounge, and Gold Point. She was offered the opportunity to teach welding at the Community College of Denver in 2018, where she discovered a new passion: sharing her knowledge with others in a supportive environment. In her years at CCD, Erica cultivated a dynamic space for students to learn and grow through fundamental classes and creative art workshops. In 2022, she worked with the public art sculpture studio JunoWorks as a metal fabricator and contributed to many projects, local and nationwide. After years of working in her field and forming her artistic practice, she returned to college and is currently a senior at MSU Denver, pursuing a BFA with a focus in sculpture.

Erica’s journey is unconventional and speaks to the modern age of art-making in which artists can create freely and with an open mind. She believes every artist deserves the chance to improve their skills regardless of their circumstances, as art is a space to be explored.

Visit her Instagram and Website to learn more.