Wednesday, October 29, 2025 - Acclaimed artist Jackie Ferrara has di£d after deciding to end her own life at age 95.
Ferrara — whose work is featured in the collections of
the Museum of Modern Art — was known for creating unique sculptures
constructed of wood planks.
She di£d on Wednesday, Oct. 22, through medical aid in
dying, according to her estate and legacy adviser Tina Hejtmanek.
In a recent interview, Ferrara told The New York
Times that although she was in “good health,” she was ready to go.
She suffered two falls within the past year that reminded
her of her wish not to be dependent on other people.
“I don’t want a housekeeper,” she told the outlet. “I never
wanted anybody. I was married three times. That’s enough.”
Medical aid in dying is not yet legal in New York, where Ferrara lived.
MAID laws have been authorized in California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington,
Montana, Vermont, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey and New
Mexico.
However, because Ferrara was healthy, she wouldn’t have been
able to qualify anywhere in the United States.
So, Ferrara traveled to Basel, Switzerland, to end her life
at a clinic called Pegasos, an assisted dying nonprofit organization that
doesn’t require patients to be terminally ill.
Medical aid in dying has been legal in Switzerland since
1942, according to Dignity in Dying, a British organization. It's
different from euthanasia — which is illegal — because the patients themselves
administer prescribed drugs to end their lives, rather than a doctor.
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