Ethan ‘Mud’ McVay, the ‘Golden Fence’ and Balancing Personal and Public Art
His name is Ethan James McVay, but you may know him by his alter ego, “Mud,” an entity that lies within his artistic subconscious, creating “trash art” for his personal practice and giving new life to found objects that have long been discarded. Mud is a talented, interesting being, one who you may be familiar with since his work created for the Art & Fashion: Runway at the Museum at the Brooks Museum recently won for Best Wearable Art.
But, this isn’t about Mud. This is about Ethan James Mcvay and his journey as an artist finding the balance between personal and public art after participating in the 2023-24 New Public Artists Fellowship program awarded by the Urban Arts Commission (UAC) in collaboration with the University of Memphis (UofM).
At its core, Ethan’s style of art has always involved a sense of rebellion, with queer undertones, embracing “the other,” and understanding gender and sexuality combined with identity. He uses his art to navigate the dichotomy of appearing white while also wanting to connect with his culture as second-generation Thai, against the idea of fitting in with society at-large. There’s also a tendency towards anti-capitalism within his art, as he challenges the desire to push for more—seeking something that always feels a little bit out of reach.
“How do you make something ‘friendly’ to the public, while also saying something important as an artist?,” Ethan questioned himself as he began his first foray into public art as a UAC fellow, which provides in-depth training and professional development to up-and-coming artists looking to create public art.
This year, the program gave the fellows the opportunity to travel to New York City to experience the grandeur of large-scale public art installations through a visit to a public art fabrication studio. The program was created to walk artists through the steps it takes to create art in public, considering all the factors that exist outside of creating a personal piece for a gallery. The goal is for each artist to propose and install their own public art piece, which would temporarily find a home on the University of Memphis’ campus.
After being accepted as one of the fellows for the UAC program, Ethan began conceptualizing his project in April of 2023. He had some past knowledge of the New Public Artists Fellowship, since he interned for it in 2021, the first year the organization hosted the program. He then received his Bachelors of Fine Arts at University of Memphis in 2022 and has since worked adjacent to many academic institutions, observing the conventions in which they can be restrictive.
He also drew on familial inspiration for this sculpture. His “Mama” spent a lot of her life living in poverty and struggled to pursue college, which led Ethan to believe academia should be more accessible, something he hoped to highlight with this piece.
Once he noticed UofM building a new fence around their campus, he wondered, “How does the fence function, what is this boundary they are creating, who is being kept in and who is being kept out? Could the fence just be a facade, possibly creating the illusion of safety?”
This is when his public art piece, Golden Fence, was born. The key message of this piece is to question what is truly making the community safe… putting up a fence or uplifting the community?
Ethan’s proposal for Golden Fence was to create a piece that celebrates community collaboration through the assembly of donated fences installed along Central Avenue, symbolizing the diverse backgrounds that contribute to a unified academic environment. Initially, this proposal was approved by the administration and organization, but two months later, in August 2023, the decision was made to deny his original proposal because it seemed “anti-fence,” when juxtaposed with the university’s new fence surrounding the campus. Thus began Ethan’s lengthy journey of discovering how to walk the thin line between creating art that is acceptable for the public and a piece that is meaningful to him personally as an artist.
To Ethan, Golden Fence felt important, so he came up with an altered proposal. This included an added QR code on a golden sign linking to a website created by his partner, artist Shelda Edwards. The link contains a list of resources ranging from community, health, and student topics.
Ethan also proposed changing the black fence color, meant to mirror the institutional fences put up around campus, to a gilded gold. Humans associate gold with something precious, shiny and positive, so that’s when the title of the piece went from “Fence” to “Golden Fence.” They then approved his original location on Central Avenue after the University of Memphis Art Department worked tirelessly to convince the administration to honor the UAC Fellowship.
Work began and after a four-day install that enlisted the assistance of eight helpers, all from the IATSE Local 69 Stagehand Union that Ethan works with, the original plan for Golden Fence was almost complete. Then, UofM added additional requests, because of “specific landscaping requirements,” which the artist was not made aware of until the last minute. This turned the project into a two-week install where Ethan’s team disassembled and reassembled the piece to work with the University under their new requirements for the install along Central Avenue. In the end, the administration at the University still asked him to move it to a new location inside campus, making it harder for people outside of the University to see the piece and access the resources available through the QR code, one of the main aspects of the new proposal. Golden Fence is now located in the Emeriti Grove courtyard in front of the University of Memphis’s library.
Ethan explains,“It was a frustrating process which allowed me to learn and experience the challenges of creating subversive work in a city that is not ready for pointed art in public.”
On the bright side, there is more foot traffic at the new location. Ethan enjoys the fact his sculpture acts as a bridge between artists Brandon Scott’s and Kendrick Pendelton’s pieces, two sculptures that struck him as being important, socially conscious works created in the fellowship program.
Although Ethan does value his time spent and education at the University, he believes beyond higher education, everyone deserves access to resources that can help them grow and prosper.
The sculpture stands as a testament to the strength found in communal synergy and shared support, uplifting the spirit of inclusivity and safety on campus. Its home at the University of Memphis is a temporary one, since all of the UAC sculptures are only up until February 2025.
In the future, Ethan could see Golden Fence traveling to other public spaces, on a local level or possibly around the world. He plans to adjust aspects of the piece to reflect the community in which it is located, building onto it using new discarded fences sourced from the area it is in and changing the links on the QR code to resources that will uplift the specific audience that views the sculpture.
When asked what lies ahead for him and his art, Ethan remarked that his personal practice moniker, Mud, is in need of some time and care. After the past 17 months working on Golden Fence, he’ll be taking a break from public art and going back to his own private studio practice. He aims to keep discovering himself and exploring where he is in life. His future work will center around being queer and working class, because he enjoys this new career in the stagehand field that he’s been cultivating and wants to incorporate it into his identity and art. In general, Ethan really just wants to rhinestone a hard hat and that’s something that I, personally, would love to see.
Ethan would like to thank the Urban Arts Commision and the University of Memphis Art Department for their support. If you’re interested in working with UAC to create, go to https://uacmem.org/ to learn more!
In case you don’t make it to campus to see Golden Fence in person, check out the sculpture’s resource link.
