Leah Hardy - Wyoming Women to Watch

Mixed media artist Leah Hardy grew up in eastern Kansas, where she recalls how she and her father would hunt morels in the hilly plains. Accustomed to looking down at the micro view during hikes, the young Hardy often collected bugs and sticks to take them home and create dioramas and assemblage artworks. As an uninhibited five year-old, she declared to her parents that she would become an artist, making the statement true by studying art throughout high school and receiving her Bachelor of Fine Art in 1987 from the University of Kansas, and a Master’s in Fine Art from the University of Indiana in 1990.

Hardy’s long journey to become a metalsmith with an oeuvre known for anthropomorphizing insects comes from her belief that artists can amplify tiny moments in life. Originally a ceramicist, her desire to make delicate yet strong sculptures inspired her shift to metalwork. Nearly thirty years ago Hardy and her husband moved to Wyoming, where Hardy taught, eventually creating the Metalsmithing Program in 2009 in the Visual Arts Department at the University of Wyoming. Employing insect-inspired forms which become metaphors for the present human condition, Hardy’s works are a springboard for conversation.

Hardy’s career has included teaching University of WY art courses and researching traditional metalsmithing techniques in northern India. In 2017 Hardy was an invited Visiting Artist at the University of South Australia, Adelaide. Exhibited nationally and internationally, Hardy’s intimately scaled mixed media sculpture has garnered numerous awards and inclusions in books, periodicals, juried and invitational exhibitions. Residencies have taken Hardy to Australia, New Zealand, China, and India. Hardy’s work is in public and private collections in the US, China, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and India. In 2023 Hardy and her husband retired from teaching and moved to New Mexico for new adventures and art creation.

Leah will also be our featured artist for our Entomology Exhibit in January and February of 2025.