Santa Fe Art Institute

Becca McCharen

Becca McCharen (they/she) is a social practice artist and fashion designer trained as an architect. Their work creatively reimagines sustainable futures, climate optimism and celebrates the body as a site for collective social action and personal autonomy. She studied at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and is based in Miami, FL.

McCharen was awarded the Smithsonian National Design Award in 2021, was recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 “People Who Are Reinventing the World” and was honored in the OUT 100 as one of the LGBTQ’s communities’ brightest voices. Their work has been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue and Elle. Collaborations include Beyonce, Intel, Disney, Reebok, MAC and MIT.

She gave a TED Talk on inclusive design, and has spoken at SXSW, Harvard, Parsons, MIT, CFDA, Pratt, Fashion Institute of Technology and Tulane. She has been an artist-in-residence at MASS MoCA and Blue Mountain Center, NY. McCharen curated ‘Queer Joy’ at the MoMA PS1 and her work was recently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.