NEW YORK, NY.- Thaddeus Mosley passed away March 6, 2026, at 99 years old. Over the course of seven decades, the artist made soaring abstract sculptures in wood and bronze. While maintaining a daily studio practice, for much of his life Mosley worked for the United States Postal Service in tandem with teaching and raising a family in his home of Pittsburgh. In addition to his monumental impact on the legacy of sculpture, Mosley will be remembered for his contributions to his community, keen and curious mind, and generosity of spirit—he was beloved by all who knew him.

Thaddeus Mosley was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1926. After serving in the US Navy in the late 1940s, he studied English and journalism at the University of Pittsburgh, going on to work with a local photographer and as a freelance reporter for, among others, the Pittsburgh Courier, one of America’s leading Black newspapers. In 1950, inspired by Western and Central African art, the work of modernists like Constantin Brânçusi, Scandinavian design, and jazz, Mosley began making sculptures. From his home studio, he hand-carved felled trees sourced primarily from Pittsburgh’s Forestry Division. In 1952, he began working at the United States Postal Service, where he held positions until 1992. In 1968, Mosley had his first solo exhibition at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art. His second one-person show at the Carnegie, Recent Sculpture, was held in 1997, and in 2018, his work was included in the 57th Carnegie International. Thaddeus Mosley: Forest opened at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2021 traveling to Art + Practice, Los Angeles, and the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas. In 2024, Following Space: Thaddeus Mosley & Alexander Calder presented sculptures by Mosley with works by Alexander Calder at the Seattle Art Museum. The first exhibition of his sculptures in bronze was held at Rockefeller Center in 2020, followed by presentations at Musée national Eugène-Delacroix in 2022, and New York’s City Hall Park, presented by Public Art Fund, in 2025. In April 2026, Touching the Earth will be the inaugural installation at Arts Landing, an outdoor civic space and park in downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.