Linda Sikora is second generation Canadian whose paternal grandparents left Eastern Europe, as political tides turned, to work in Western Canadian orchards and coal mines. Sikora’s mother was the oldest of 14 siblings (Scottish/French) in Eastern Canada. Secondary school education was a luxury not afforded her parents, but values of personal agency and industry were abundant. The furniture her father built for the family household and her mother’s acute aesthetic influenced the pursuit of an art/craft/design education.
Sikora resides with her family near Alfred NY where she has a studio practice and is a Professor or Ceramic Art at the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University. Academic study in visual art (BA) and a ceramic-based apprenticeship in British Columbia was the foundation of her training that continued at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (BFA) and University of Minnesota–Minneapolis (MFA).
Professional activities are national and international: Artist residencies include: Archie Bray Foundation; Chunkang College of Cultural Industry, Korea; Tainan National College of The Arts, Taiwan; Clay Edge, Australia.
Public Collections include: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; Racine Art Museum, WI; Alfred Ceramic Art Museum; LA County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of the Arts; Everson Museum, NY; Campos de Gutiérrez Foundation, Medellin, Colombia; Huntington Museum of Art; Fuller Craft Museum; Gardener Museum, Canada; LSU Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Smithsonian Museum of American Art; National Museum of Sweden. Sikora was nominated and selected as a United States Artist Fellow in 2020.