Cate Solari


Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Sculpture

Sink or Swim

Cate Solari is a sculptor and printmaker. “Sink or Swim” is the culmination of Solari’s MFA thesis work. Spending every summer on the Connecticut shoreline with her family, the work recalls imagery of swimming and is a reflection on loss, grief, and guilt expressed through a poetic use of materials and production.

Solari has exhibited widely in venues that include MAC650 in Middletown, CT, Art Space in Windham, CT, and the Sullivan Center in Chicago, IL. She has received numerous grants and awards, including the Napier Foundations Scholarship, the University of Connecticut’s IDEA Grant, and SHARE Grant.

In addition to completing her MFA this year from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Solari received her BFA in Sculpture and Ceramics from the University of Connecticut in 2017. There, she was the founding president of the University of Connecticut’s Association of Ceramic Artists, and spent a year at the International Studies Institute in Florence, Italy studying Italian Renaissance art. In addition to her artistic practice, Solari spends her summer’s as an Aquatic’s Director, coaching swim team and new swimmers.