Judith Modrak is a sculptor and installation artist based in New York City. She was born in Washington, D.C., and spent formative years in Chicago, Houston, Riverside, and San Francisco. The forms and concepts in her body of work are inspired by the fields of social and natural sciences, in particular psychology, botany, histology, neuroscience, and ecology. She is fascinated by what goes on inside and outside of us – from the composition of brain cells, to the intricacies of emotional vulnerability, to the way in which memories are formed and stored, to the fragility and beauty of the ecosystem we inhabit. Modrak’s eco-inspired and participatory public artworks raise awareness around the climate crisis and connect us viscerally to one another and to nature.
“Nurturing Tree”, a commissioned sculpture by the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association, is on view in Stuyvesant Square Park in New York City through November 2026. “Earth’s Voices”, a solo exhibition, at Saint John Fisher University in Spring 2025, involved a critical collaborative component with students and the broader Rochester community. “Earth”, a central sculptural figure in the show, is now permanently installed on the SJFU campus. “Endangered Fossils”, part of the city of Santa Clarita’s permanent Public Art Program, was previously exhibited in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and was featured in the Queens World Film Festival’s “Listening Tour”. “Our Memories”, a participatory public art installation in New York City’s Central Park, was commissioned as part of the New York City Parks’ Art in the Parks Program with other activations on Governors Island and Thomas Paine Park. The film about “Our Memories” was awarded Best Short Documentary at the Amsterdam International Film Festival. In 2019, “Fluid Pathways / Caminos Fluidos”, a permanent public artwork, was installed in Murcia, Spain.
Modrak has received numerous grants, including two Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Creative Engagement Grants. Her participatory installation, “Do the Trees Hear Us?”, was created as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2025. Her work has been exhibited at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the Trenton Art Museum, Point Park University, the Palm Beach Art Armory, the Woodstock Museum, Art New York, Monmouth Museum, Strathmore Mansion Museum, the Hartnett Gallery, Pen + Brush Gallery, and the New Arts Program, among many others.
She is an active speaker and visiting artist. Engagements have included workshops and artist talks with the City of Santa Clarita, the Dorill Foundation, the Queens Museum, Pratt Institute, Rutgers University, the University of Rochester, SciViz NYC, ABC No Rio, Escape to Create, AADK Spain, SJFU, and Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association.
Modrak’s work has been featured and reviewed in various art, science, and news publications, including The Art Newspaper, Curbed NYC, BCTV, Tribeca Trib, Scientific American, The Seaside Times, Untapped Cities and The Pittsburgh-Tribune. Modrak’s artworks are in many private collections and are in the permanent public collections of the City of Santa Clarita California, Saint John Fisher University, the town of Blanca in Murcia Spain, the former di Rosa Foundation, Escape to Create, and the University of Rochester.
Solo Exhibitions & Public Art Installations (2013 – current)
• Forest Spirit, sculptural and participatory installation, Enchanted Forest, Château d’Orquevaux, France, July 2026.
• Nurturing Tree, Stuyvesant Square Park, New York, NY, October 2025 – November 2026.
• Earth, permanent sculpture installation, St. John Fisher University, Murphy Gardens, Rochester, NY, installed 2026.
• Earth’s Voices, solo exhibition and participatory installation, St. John Fisher University, Rochester, NY, January 24 – April 24, 2025.
• Do the Trees Hear Us?, solo exhibition and participatory installation, Triangle Garden, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, April 2025.
• Endangered Fossils, permanent sculpture installation, City of Santa Clarita, CA, installed 2022, permanently 2026.
• Endangered Fossils, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY, August 2021 – May 2022.
• Caminos Fluidos / Fluid Pathways, permanent sculpture installation, AADK Spain, Calle de Castillo, Blanca, Spain, installed 2019.
• In the Garden of the Mind, New Arts Program, solo exhibition, Kutztown, PA, January – March, 2019.
• Our Memories, Thomas Paine Park, New York, NY, May 2018 – February 2019.
• Our Memories, Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, event and outdoor installation, New York, NY, April 20, 2018.
• Thought Storm, outdoor installations as part of Escape to Create A.I.R., Coleman’s Beach Pavilion and the Lyceum, Seaside, Florida, February 2017.
• Fundamental Filaments, Hartnett Gallery, solo exhibition, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, October 2016.
• Imprints, Chashama 461 Harlem Gallery, solo exhibition, New York, NY, October 2013.
Grants, Awards & Residencies (2013 – current)
• Visiting Artist, Château d’Orquevaux, 2026.
• Peace Prize Recipient, Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association, 2025.
• Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, 2025.
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Creative Engagement Grant, 2021.
• AADK Artist Residency, 2019.
• New Arts Program A.I.R. Artist Recipient, 2019.
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Creative Engagement Grant, 2019.
• Escape2Create Artist Residency, 2017.
• Linda H. Orfield Memorial Award, 2015.
• The Nicholas Buhalis Award for Artistic Excellence in Abstract/Figurative or Figurative Work, 2014.
• N.A.W.A. 124th Medal of Honor and Margo Liebes Harris Memorial Award for Sculpture, 2014.
• Chashama/National Endowment of the Arts Support Grant, 2013.
Public Art State Rosters (current)
• Arizona • Washington • Maryland
Select Group Exhibitions (2013 – current)
• Art for Your Collection, The Catherine Fosnot Gallery and Center, New London, CT Dec. 4 – Jan 29, 2022.
• Multi, Pen and Brush, New York, NY, May 13th – July 31st, 2021.
• Cartographies of the Mind, House of Solutions, Governors Island, September 28th – October 30th, 2019.
• NAP 29th Annual International Invitational Salon of Small Works, Kutztown, PA, May 25 – July 15, 2018.
• Our Memories at Art Park 21, finalists, Open Space Visitor Center, Albuquerque, NM, March – June, 2018.
• Rise Up, Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda, MD, 2016.
• Art New York, part of Art Frieze Week, New York, NY, 2016.
• Our Memories, an outdoor sculptural installation, Governors Island Art Fair, Governors Island, NY, 2016.
• Open Studio and Artist Talk as part of International Sculpture Day, New York, NY, 2016.
• Aqua Art Miami, Miami Beach, Florida, 2015.
• 35th Annual Faber Birren National Color Show, Stamford Art Association, Stamford, CT, 2015.
• 126th N.A.W.A. Annual Exhibition, Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Gallery, New York, NY, 2015.
• New York Select Art Fair, New York, NY, 2015.
• Portraits: Interior and Exterior, The Arts Club of Washington D.C., Washington, D.C., 2015.
• MinArture, Midday Gallery, Englewood, NJ, 2014.
• 34th Annual Faber Birren National Color Show, Stamford Art Association, Stamford, CT, 2014.
• Who’s Your Mama, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ, 2014.
• 125th N.A.W.A. Annual Exhibition, Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Gallery, New York, NY, 2014.
• Far and Wide, Woodstock Artist Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY, 2014.
• Visions and Revelations, Lawrence Hall Gallery at Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA, 2014.
• 21st Annual Group Show, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY, July-August 2013.
• I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours, ABC No Rio, New York, NY, June 2013.
• Morphogenesis, 310 Art Gallery at Riverview Station, Asheville, NC, April 2013.
Select Press, TV and Film (2014 – current)
• “Public art blossoms around New York From the High Line to Brooklyn Bridge Park, artists are thinking big across the five boroughs”, The Art Newspaper, May 2026.
• “Nurturing Tree” Springs to Life in Stuyvesant Park, SPNA Press Release, October 2025.
• Santa Clarita TV, Finding Art: Endangered Fossils at West Creek Park, November 2022.
• Efrain Gantus, Donald Preston Cato, “The Listening Tour”: “Judith and Friends”, The Queens World Film Festival, January 2022.
• Art For Your Collection II, Exhibition Catalogue, February, 2022.
• Judith and Friends, QWFF, The Listening Tour, January, 2022.
• 16 New Public Art Installations in NYC in September 2021 – Endangered Fossils in Flushing Meadows Park, Untapped Cities, September 2021.
• Artist Discusses Her Flushing Meadows Corona Park Piece, QEDC IT’S IN QUEENS, August 2021.
• This Week in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens Gazette, August 2021.
• MSN, Climate Week NYC Convened Policymakers, Celebrities and Activists, September 2019.
• Reading Eagle, Art Review: Neuroscience takes shape in the latest New Arts Program exhibition, March 2019.
• In the Garden of the Mind, NAP Preview, 2018-2019 Season.
• “Memories Recorded, Memories Stored,” documentary about “Our Memories”, Best Director of a Short Documentary, South International Film Festival, May 2019.
• GothamToGo, 46 Art Events, Exhibits & Art Installations Not to Miss this June in NYC, May 2018.
• Curbed, New York’s Best Public Art Installations this Season, May 2018.
• Science Channel, Our Memories by Judith Modrak, June 2018.
• Untapped Cities, 58 NYC Outdoor (and Indoor) Art Installations Not To Miss in November, November 2018.
• Tribeca Trib, 2 Sculptural Works For Civic Center, One Looks Back, the Other Forward, March 2018.
• Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy, Fundamental Filaments in Sculptural Form, February 2018.
• Scientific American, When Two (Disciplines) Become One: Reflections on the Convergence of Art and Science, January 2018.
• Sci Art Magazine, Is Sci Art the New Outsider Art?, December 2017.
• Go to the Beach, A Surprise Around Every Sand Dune, May 2017.
• “Memories Recorded, Memories Stored,” Best Science and Education Documentary, Madrid International Film Festival, August 2017.
• Art the Science, Creators– Judith Modrak, April 2017.
• “Memories Recorded, Memories Stored,” Queens World Film Festival, March 2017.
• Seaside Times, Escape to Create, January, January 2017.
• Art the Science, Works- Dendrites by Judith Modrak, November 2016.
• Rochester Review, An Artist’s Homecoming, September/October 2016.
• Interalia Magazine, Dendrites and Memories, September 2016.
• Gothamist, Photos: Historic Buildings On Governors Island Now Filled With Art, September 2016.
• Sino Vision, The Interactive Artwork of Judith Modrak, September 2016.
• ASCI, Interview, September 2015.
• SciArt Magazine, Interview, June/July issue, 2015.
• Professional Artist Magazine, Ace Your Next Art Show, December 2014/January 2015.
• Sculpture Magazine, Dendrites Highlighted in the May Issue of Sculpture Magazine for the Verge Art Fair, May 2014.
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Exhibit offers unique “Visions” from women artists, April 2014.
• Columbia Journalist, Facing uncertainty, a New York artist stands strong, January 2014.
Select Interviews (2013 – current)
• Judith Modrak interviewed by SCTV as part of “Finding Art Santa Clarita, Finding Art: Endangered Fossils at West Creek Park”, October, 2022.
• Judith Modrak interviewed by The National Association of Women Artists as part of Art in Conversation with Farrin Series, 2020.
• Judith Modrak interviewed by James Carroll on BCTV New Arts Alive Initiative, May 2018.
• Judith Modrak in “Memories Recorded, Memories Stored” documentary, directed by Jake Alexander McAfee, 2017.
• Judith Modrak interviewed as part of Verge Art Fair in SoHo by Michael Workman, Verge Founder, 2014.
• Judith Modrak interviewed by Marie Hines Cowan, President of The National Association of Women Artists, in conjunction with winning the Medal of Honor, 2013.
• Judith Modrak interviewed as part of The Hive documentary about ABC No Rio Hive installation, 2013.
Select Talks & Presentations (2013 – current)
• Sculpture Workshops and Artist Talk as part of “Nurturing Tree”, Stuyvesant Square Park, October, 2025.
• Sculpture Workshops and Artist Talk as part of “Earth’s Voices”, St. John Fisher University, February, 2025.
• Sculpture Workshops as part of “Do the Trees Hear Us?”, American Academy in Rome, March, 2025.
• Guest Lecturer and Studio Visit, Pratt Institute, November, 2024.
• Artist Sculpture Making Workshop, City of Santa Clarita, Business of Art Conference, October, 2024.
• Featured Speaker at City of Santa Clarita, From Studio Art to Public Art, Business of Art Conference, October, 2024.
• Guest Lecturer, Pratt Institute, December, 2023.
• Artist Sculpture Making Workshop as Part of Dorill Initiatives, March 2023.
• Guest Lecturer, Pratt Institute, October, 2022.
• Artist Workshop and Event as part of Escuelita en Casa at the Queens Museum and Flushing Meadows Corona Park, April, 2022.
• Guest Lecturer and Studio Visit, Pratt Institute, November, 2021.
• Guest Lecturer via Zoom Studio Visit, Pratt Institute, October, 2020.
• Guest Lecturer as part of Pratt Institute’s Emotional Design Program, March, 2020.
• Artist Talk as part of Studio Visit with Pratt Professional Practice, December, 2019.
• Artist Talk as part of Caminos Fluidos, at AADK Spain, May and June, 2019.
• Artist Talk as part of In the Garden of the Mind at the New Arts Program, January, 2019.
• Artist Talk as part of Studio Visit with Rutgers STEAM program students, December and January, 2019.
• Speaker at SciViz NYC, November, 2018.
• Artist Talk with Ossining Girl Scouts as part of Our Memories at Thomas Paine Park, October, 2018.
• Panelist for “The Intersection of Art and Science”, Women in Bio, July, 2017.
• Artist Talk as part of “From the Inside Out: two perspectives on memories and emotions”, University of Rochester New York Metro Women, March, 2017.
• Artist Talk as part of Escape to Create A.I.R., Nature as Muse, The Repertory Theatre, February, 2017.
• Artist Talk as part of Escape to Create A.I.R., The Seaside Middle School, February, 2017.
• Artist Talk as part of Escape to Create A.I.R., Gulf Coast State College, February, 2017.
• Artist Talk as part of Studio Visit with Rutgers STEAM program students, January, 2017.
• Panelist for “The Mind’s Eye: The Art & Science of Awareness”, SciArt Center, December, 2016.
• Artist Talk as part of Fundamental Filaments, Hartnett Gallery, October, 2016.
• Artist Talk as part of International Sculpture Day, April, 2016.
• Artist Talk as part of MinArture at Midday Gallery, November, 2014.
• Artist Talk as part of Who’s Your Mama panel, Monmouth Museum, October 2014.
• Artist Talk as part of Imprints at chashama Gallery, September, 2013.
• Artist Talk as part of ABC No Rio Screening of The Hive, July, 2013.
Education
B.A., University of Rochester, Cum Laude, Rochester, NY.
B.F.A. in Painting, San Francisco Art Institute, Merit Scholarship, San Francisco, CA.
