Tad McKillop was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1965. He was interested in making art and pretty much all things mechanical since early childhood. In 1985, he began studying figurative sculpture at the University of Michigan and found his passion not only for creating the figure but also the entire casting process. It seemed a natural combination of the two things he loved the most, art and creative problem solving involving tools and construction.

Tad received his MFA in 1992 from the Graduate School of Figurative Art at the New York Academy of Art. Upon graduating he and two business partners opened Daedalus Art Foundry, where he worked until 2000. He then built his own foundry and has continued to expand it, now housed in a 2000 square foot building and capable of pouring 300 lbs of bronze. He casts his own work in bronze and also casts for other area artists and provides sculpture restoration services throughout the midwest.

Tad has taught sculpture, life drawing and design at the University of Michigan, the University of Toledo, Owens Community College, Washtenaw Community College and Hillsdale College. He continues to seek private and public commissions and has completed six monumental commissions between 1999 and 2020.  When not working on sculpture, Tad enjoys motorcycle riding, playing guitar and trips to Germany to visit his children and grandchildren.