Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy OBE
Andy Goldsworthy in 2005
Born	(1956-07-25) 25 July 1956 (age 60) Cheshire, England
Nationality	British
Education	Bradford College of Art (1974–1975); Preston Polytechnic (now University of Central Lancashire) (1975–1978)
Known for	Sculpture; photography
Movement	Environmental art and land art
Awards	Scottish Arts Council Award (1987); honorary degree from the University of Bradford (1993); OBE (2000)

Andy Goldsworthy OBE (born 26 July 1956) is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.

The son of F. Allin Goldsworthy (1929–2001), former professor of applied mathematics at the University of Leeds, Andy Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire and grew up on the Harrogate side of Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in a house edging the green belt. From the age of 13 he worked on farms as a labourer. He has likened the repetitive quality of farm tasks to the routine of making sculpture: "A lot of my work is like picking potatoes; you have to get into the rhythm of it."

Goldsworthy studied fine art at Bradford College of Art (1974–75) and at Preston Polytechnic (1975–78) (now the University of Central Lancashire) in Preston, Lancashire, receiving his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the latter.

After leaving college, Goldsworthy lived in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. In 1985, he moved to Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and a year later to Penpont. It has been said that his gradual drift northwards was "due to a way of life over which he did not have complete control", but that contributing factors were opportunities and desires to work in these areas and "reasons of economy".

In 1993, he received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford. He was an A.D. White Professor-At-Large in Sculpture at Cornell University 2000–6 and 2006–8.