Richard Mcwherter

I am an award-winning visual artist working in photography and digital art exhibiting my work internationally. I think of photographs as dreams made tangible.  They represent a physical extension of a memory for me. And my goal is to lead the eye through an image with the same effect that a storyteller weaves a tale.

SPARK: Since my early school days, I have been learning, creating, exhibiting and teaching photography as a vital medium in visual art. As a young person, I was fascinated by the power of photographs in magazines such as Life and Look, and how they could actually change the public opinion of a nation or a world.

My work champions some of the hidden and temporal natural treasures on this planet and hopefully challenges everyone to be actively engaged in protecting our surroundings. Promoting this understanding of our world, and our place in it, will help us make sure it is here for generations to come.

RECOGNITION: I received my first opportunity by winning a scholarship to attend the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts while still in high school. Since then my work has appeared in many regional, national, and international exhibitions and has also been reproduced in national magazines for fine art phot...

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts, Seton Hill University, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, with a minor in Art Education.

Since his early school days, Richard McWherter’s activities have included the learning, creating, exhibiting and teaching of photography as a vital medium in visual art. He received his first opportunity by winning a scholarship to attend the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts while still in high school. McWherter’s photographs have since appeared in many regional and national exhibitions and have also been reproduced in nationally recognized magazines for fine art photography.
 
     In 1990 he received the top award for black and white photography from Photographer’s Forum magazine and his work appeared in the book The Best of Photography as a first place winner. In 2014 he received the State Museum of Pennsylvania Purchase Art Award and in 2015 he was part of an international showcase of photography at the Louvre Museum in France. His artwork has also appeared in international juried art and photography exhibitions both here and abroad, including New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Budapest, Venice and Rome.
 
     As an educator, McWherter is dedicated to the continued artis...

Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography, (15th Pollux Awards, sponsored by the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards), an international exhibition to be staged at the FotoNostrum Gallery in Barcelona, Spain. December 2021 (Honorable Mention Award).

Louisville Photo Biennial: Journeys in Nature, an exhibition of photography and lens-based digital art by award-winning artist Richard S. McWherter. Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana, New Albany, Indiana. September 2021.

Photo Review 2020 International Photography Competition, Juried Web Galleries. The Photo Review, Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Winter 2020.

Journeys in Nature: Coursey-Gray, McWherter, Spinelli. Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, Ligonier, Pennsylvania. August 2020.

For a complete list of current and past exhibitions:

https://www.richardmcwherter.com/exhibitions

For a complete list of awards:

https://www.richardmcwherter.com/awards

COLLECTIONS

State Museum of Pennsylvania, Permanent Collection, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Art Conservation Trust Special Collection, Greater Latrobe School District, Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Derry Area School District Art Collection, Derry, Pennsylvania.

Multiple patrons and private collecti...