Becky McDonah received her Master's of Fine Arts from Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) and her Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (La Crosse, WI). She currently heads the Fine Art Metals program at Millersville University (Millersville, PA). McDonah served on the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Board of Directors for seven years. She has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions and has lectured and presented workshops across the country. McDonah’s work has been published in CAST, Metalsmith magazine, Humor in Craft, Mixed Metal Jewelry Workshop, and 500 Metal Vessels. McDonah’s piece Particulate Protection: A Reliquary for the N95 Mask was one of two winners in the Art of the State 2021 purchase prize show held by the State Museum of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, PA).  

Through her use of the secular reliquary form, McDonah explores the relationship between the object and the observer, between the mundane and the revered. At the heart of every piece is a carefully chosen found object meant to spark endearment towards the ordinary through its familiarity to the observer. The found object is elevated beyond the everyday by the physicality and grandeur of its container, requiring the viewer to reconsider their notion of its importance and value.