Best of 2025 nominee: introducing Nico Cathcart
In a year defined by movement, breakthroughs, and deep community connection, artist Nico Cathcart closes out 2025 with a major honor:
Nico Cathcart’s mural “Signs of the Times” in Morganton, North Carolina has been nominated for Street Art Cities’ Best of 2025, marking a high point in what she describes as her busiest and most expansive year yet. Traveling across the country, she experienced a major breakthrough in depicting Deaf identity through ASL, with significant projects in South Bend, Morganton, Ithaca, and at the first Deaf Mural Festival in Denver.
The Morganton mural stands out as a deeply collaborative, community‑led effort. Developed through town halls and extensive dialogue with the North Carolina School for the Deaf community, the piece features three community members signing meaningful phrases in ASL. Cathcart highlights how the project brought together Deaf and hearing participants—hundreds joined the initial community paint day—and how her hearing assistants and administrators experienced Deaf culture for the first time. The mural took a full year from concept to installation and introduced her to mural cloth techniques, making it one of her most unique undertakings.
Reflecting on the broader 2025 art landscape, Cathcart notes a surge in AI‑generated imagery, which she feels led to repetitive, less human work. She emphasizes her preference for real people, real stories, and the imperfections that make them meaningful.
She sums up her year with the words GOGOGOGO and Friendships, and looks ahead to 2026 with excitement—beginning in Mexico City’s Art Week, followed by Beaumont Mural Fest, and hopes for projects in Europe and Canada.
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