Jackie Ferrara

Jacqueline Ferrara ( Hirschhorn; November 17, 1929 – October 22, 2025) was an American sculptor and draftswoman best known for her pyramidal stacked structures. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, The Phillips Collection, and the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, among others. On July 6, 1980, writing in The New York Times, the critic Peter Schjeldahl referred to her as "one of our most gifted and innovative sculptors." to Herman Hirshhorn and Diana (Ufberg) Hirschhorn.

During this time she began sculpting, initially "having affinities with Minimalist sculpture" then developing her own style by the 1970s. Between the late 1950s and early 1970s, Ferrara's sculptures "included wax figures in groups, constructed boxes with macabre contents, and hanging pieces, such as tail-like objects of jute and canvas panels covered with cotton batting and hung in rows." She further experimented with cutting away sections and moved away from having four identical sides on her pyramids.

Public works Large-scale public works Ferrara created include "Castle Clinton: Tower and Bridge" (1979) and "Meeting Place" (1989), which featured a large "lobby" with concrete and steel flooring, a raised platform with steps, and concrete and steel seating. In 1988, she created the work "Belvedere" at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Her other public works include the 200 seat "Amphitheater" (1999) at LACMA, and the 60-foot long red and black granite "Fountain" (2006) at University of Houston.

Awards and grants Creative Artists Public Service grants, New York State Council on the Arts, 1971 and 1975 Guggenheim Fellowship, 1975 Design Excellence Award for Flushing Bay Promenade, Queens, New York City, Art Commission of the City of New York, 1988 Institute Honor, American Institute of Architects, 1990