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Wade MacDonald was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan by two former opera singers, an upbringing that fostered an early appreciation for the arts, material expression, and disciplined craft. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education from Western Michigan University and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in Ceramics from Michigan State University in 2014. As a graduate student, he was awarded the Stanley and Selma Hollander Graduate Fellowship in Studio Art, the Varg-Sullivan Award for Distinguished Research, and the John and Susan Berding Family Foundation Endowment Juried MFA Prize. MacDonald’s studio practice centers on sculptural ceramics that explore the intersection of vessel traditions, architectural space, and constructed geometric form, often incorporating multiple materials and layered ceramic surfaces. His work draws from historical traditions, industrial design, and contemporary sculptural language, emphasizing precision digital fabrication and handcraft alongside formal and material experimentation.
 
MacDonald has exhibited nationally and internationally and has completed artist residencies at the Banff Centre, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Red Lodge Clay Center, Zentrum für Keramik, and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts. In 2018, he received the NCECA Emerging Artist Award and was featured in American Craft Magazine, with more recent work highlighted in the October 2025 issue of Ceramics Monthly. MacDonald is Professor of Art in Ceramics at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses while supporting exhibition development, conference leadership, and community engagement initiatives. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, Anne Herbert and stepdaughter, Clara Worley. 
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