Rhea Vedro

Biography

Rhea Vedro teaches Special Topics 3.S04 (Metalsmithing: Objects and Power) and leads fine metals instruction in The Merton C. Flemings Materials Processing Laboratory. Vedro is a metalsmith creating at the intersection of arts and collective healing. Her research explores metalsmithing as a cultural signifier of values, power, and protection across belief systems and time. Trained first as a jeweler, her studio practice is primarily hollow-form steel sculpture.
 
Before joining DMSE, Vedro received a 2021-22 Now + There Accelerator Fellowship for public art in Boston and served as director of community engagement with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum from 2016 to 2021. Vedro taught metalsmithing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and State University of New York at New Paltz. Her project portfolio includes the North Bennet Street School, Vizcaya Museum, Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio, The New York City Parks Foundation, and schools, shelters, prisons, and community settings throughout the Americas. Vedro holds an MFA in metalsmithing from SUNY New Paltz. When she’s not working, Vedro can be found in her studio, garden, and the ocean.