Nancy Worden

born Boston, Massachusetts, 1954; died Seattle, Washington, 2021

BiographyNancy Worden was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1954. Her family moved to central Washington State in the early 1960s. She made her first jewelry in high school art classes, studying with Kay Crimp at Ellensburg High School. In her senior year in 1972, Worden enrolled in college-level classes at Central Washington State College (today Central Washington University), where she met artist and professor Ken Cory. Cory became an important mentor and key influence on her career. She received her BFA from Central in 1977. In 1978, Worden was offered a teaching assistantship at the University of Georgia and honed her metalworking techniques with Professor Gary Noffke. That same year, Worden’s work was selected for the 21st Sterling Silver Design Competition, which was juried by curator Lloyd Herman and artist Arline Fisch. This exhibition and publication brought Worden her first national attention. She received her MFA from the University of Georgia in 1980.

Worden returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1981 and worked for the next five years in jewelry retail and manufacturing firms around Seattle. By the mid-1980s, Worden was exhibiting regularly in the Northwest, including Northwest Crafts ‘88 at Tacoma Art Museum. Worden achieved critical acclaim at the national level by the mid-1990s. She was featured in articles in Metalsmith, Sculpture, Ornament, and American Craft magazines. Worden’s art continues to be included in exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Worden’s jewelry is in the collections of Tacoma Art Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Racine Art Museum; the Museum of Arts & Design, New York; the Seattle Art Museum; the Stedelijk Museum ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; and the Seattle City Light 1% for Art Portable Works Collection. In addition to her jewelry, Worden also has curated and collaborated on numerous exhibitions, and taught a number of workshops for her peers as well as classes for middle and high school students in the Puget Sound region.

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