ABOUT THE ARTIST

Emma Tate’s father, a blacksmith, and her mother, a rider and trainer, exposed her to the equestrian world while she was growing up in Cazenovia, New York. She experimented with many disciplines but ultimately chose dressage. Her passion for horses led her to compete in several of the top dressage competitions in the United States throughout her riding and training career. 

In Tate’s final year of studies at State University of New York at Fredonia, a friend convinced her to join a figure sculpture class. Her first sculpture was a self-portrait, and the second was a life-sized horse rearing out of the ground. The horse sculpture, “Becoming One,” now sits among the trees at the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.

Emma moved to the Netherlands in 2013 to further her Dressage equestrian training for a year. A year later she moved to Amsterdam and began creating ceramic art again, with figure sculpture, equine sculpture and handmade pottery being her main subjects. During her time in The Netherlands Emma made equine sculptures for the World Equestrian Games to raise money for The Brooke Charity, attended The Dutch Masters - Indoor Brabant in 's-Hertogenbosch where she displayed her sculptures in the VIP entrance, collaborated with Horse and Country TV and created an exclusive commission for the home of Olympians Lyndal Oatley and Patrik Kittel. Still completely horse crazy, Emma moved back to New York in January 2023 to continue her work. “I am immediately drawn to horses in every way after growing up with them all my life,” she said. “Their shape, size, individual personality, and the fact that they can trust and bond with humans, amazes me every time I spend time with them. They will certainly continue to inspire my artwork in the future.”