Studio Atherton (SA) creates transcendent experiences through a practice that blends art, architecture, and design.
Jay Atherton
Founder | Architect
Jay Atherton received an M.Arch. from UC Berkeley, and a B.S. in Architectural Design with a minor in Civil Engineering from Arizona State University, Tempe. His work has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Graham Foundation, and the Eisner Prize in the Creative Arts. Atherton’s sculpture and large-scale installations have been exhibited at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale, AZ; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; Stanlee & Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, University of Texas, El Paso, TX; Suyama Space, Seattle, WA; Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ; and public venues in both Arizona and California.
Atherton has worked for architectural studios including: Studio Daniel Libeskind, Berlin, Germany; Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, San Francisco, CA; and Jones Studio, Phoenix, AZ. Atherton currently has his own practice based in Phoenix, AZ.
"Growing up in the remote mountains of South Korea, the environment presents one with a series of temporal moments connected by a set of conscious acts. Within these moments first inquiries into nature and its relation to the built environment begin to emerge: praying in darkness, eating in silence, and meditating from within. The roof protects the body from rain and snow. The walls stop the wind from disturbing one's sleep. The fire beneath the floor emits warmth. The building is a stone carefully placed along a purposeful walk."
— Jay Atherton