About
Who is this for?
Have you taken painting classes through a community program, but want to study more regularly than their scheduled classes. Were you the kid who was good at art in high school and want to start painting again. Did you always want to be an artist, but life presented you with a different path. Are you intending to go to art school and need to build your portfolio?
Are you serious about creating better paintings? Then Painting Polytechnic painting instruction program is for you. It is developed for those with some painting experience who wants to get better. A lot better. The course work will challenge you in fun and intriguing ways.
The program was developed for those who want an art school education but aren’t currently able to attend in person. The coursework is self-paced and meant to cover the same amount of instruction you would get in about three years of a good art school. Because community is so important when one is learning to paint, you will be invited to join Facebook groups and participate in online discussions. The environment will be supportive and nurturing.
About Karen Nease - CEO & Founder, Painting Polytechnic
I approach the immediate landscape in much the same way as a naturalist. Instead of words, I use paint. Through concentrated observation of the natural phenomena in my surroundings, I deepen my understanding of the larger system as a whole. My artwork is an act of witness.
Education
1993 Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri – BFA Painting and Printmaking
1983 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS – B.S. Architectural Engineering
1983 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS – Bachelor Environmental Design
Employment and Experience
1994-present Studio artist
2017-present Co-owner, Joseph Nease Gallery, Duluth, MN
2016-present Grand Marais Art Colony – Painting Workshop Instructor
2015-present Duluth Art Institute – Intermediate Painting Instructor
1998-2003, Co-owner and assistant Director, Joseph Nease Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Workshop offered/Teaching Experience
1992-present Private, customized instruction/critique for intermediate and experienced painters.
2020 Painting Boot Camp: Personal Color Theory, Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN (October 2020)
2020 Painting Boot Camp: Making Your Mark, Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN (January 2020)
2019 Painting Boot Camp: Personal Color Theory, Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN
2019 Water as Metaphor, Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN
2018 Studio Explorations, Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN
2017 Studio Landscapes, Grand Marais Art Colony. Grand Marais, MN
2017 Painting Your Voice, Spring, Duluth Art Institute
2016 Painting Your Voice, Spring, Duluth Art Institute
2016 Painting Your Voice, Fall, Duluth Art Institute
2016 Contemporary Concepts for Landscape Painters, Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, MN
2015 Finding Your Voice for Painters, Duluth Art Institute
2015 Contemporary Concepts for Painters, Duluth Art Institute
Awards
2016 Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Career Development Grant
2014 Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Career Development Grant
1995 New American Paintings, one of 50 emerging artists chosen for the First Midwest Edition
1995 League of Innovation, purchase award, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
1991 Kansas City Art Institute MO-KAN Transfer Scholarship
1991 Art in the Woods, purchase award, Overland Park, KS
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 Near and Far, Lizzards Gallery, Duluth, MN
2019 Wave Portraits, Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Grand Marais (scheduled April)
2018 Curl, Uncurl and…, visiting artist, MN Ballet, Rite of Spring and Other Dances, Duluth MN
2017 As Above, So Below; Kruk Gallery, Department of Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin Superior (scheduled)
2015 Found Horizons, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2002 Sex and Chocolate, Joseph Nease Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2000 New Paintings, Joseph Nease Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1997 Dracaena Series, solo exhibition, Johnson County Commmunity College Library Gallery, Overland Park, KS
1996 Scenes from the Interior, solo exhibition at Kansas City Kansas Public Library Gallery
Juried Group Exhibitions
2017 Mother Earth, Lizzards Gallery, Duluth, MN
2017 WTF? – A Feminist Art Exhibit, Studio 3 West, Duluth, MN
2014 60th Arrowhead Regional Biennial, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN curated by Diane Mullin, the Senior Curator at the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
2005, 2004, 2002 Kansas City Flatfiles
2002, 2004, 2005 Group invitationals, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
2005, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1996 Beyond Bounds 3,4,5 & 6 Group invitationals, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
2004 Ungood, Shaw Hofstra, Kansas City, MO
2004 June Salon, Dolphin, Kansas City, MO
2002 Is/Was, Joseph Nease Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2002 Daum Museum Acquisitions Collection, Daum Museum, Sedalia, MO
2001 Phenomena: where art and science converge, Union Station, Kansas City, MO
2001 Road Show, St. Louis Art Guild, St. Louis, MO curated by Marcus Cain, Program Coordinator and Curator, Kansas City Art Institute Corporate Partnership Exhibition Program
2001 Space Oddity; Joseph Nease Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1999 Karma – Abstraction in KC, Joseph Nease Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1997 Summer in the City, Jan Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1997 Autumn exhibition, Michael Cross Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1997 This is Not McDonald’s (two person exhibition with Darlene Stringer), West Wyandotte Public Library, Kansas City, KS
1997, 1996, 1995 RE:Members Exhibitions Mallin Gallery, Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO(1997 curated by Heidi Iverson Bilardo, Executive Director, Municipal Arts Commission; 1996 curated by Saralyn Reece Hardy, Director Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS; 1995 curated by Bruce Hartman, Director Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS)
1997 Devoted x 2, Invitational at the New Works Gallery, KCAC, Kansas City,MO
1996 Juror’s Choice, Mallin Gallery, Kansas City Artist’s Coalition, Kansas City, MO with Lynn Manos Huber and Yvonne Rosser (curated by Bruce Hartman, Director Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS)
1996 Scenes From the Interior, solo exhibition at Kansas City Kansas Public Library Gallery
1996 Mindful Reflections of Three, New Works Gallery, Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, MO
1996, 1995, 1991 Art in the Woods Gallery at Corporate Woods, Overland Park Arts Commission, Overland Park, KS (1996 juried by William T. Wiley, artist; 1995 juried by Christopher Brown, artist; 1991 juried by Philip Pearlstein, artist)
1995 League of Innovation, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS Kansas City Regional Colleges of Higher Education
1994 Kansas Postcard Series XVII, traveling juried exhibition, Association Of Community Art Agencies of Kansas, Salina, KS
1993 Annual Show, group exhibition, Kansas City Regional Colleges of Higher Education
Selected Collections
Daum Museum, Sedalia, Missouri
American Century Investments, KC, Missouri
Metmor Financial, Overland Park, Kansas
Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS – Scholar Space.
Private collections Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Selected Reviews and Articles
From the Heartland to the Northland, Cook County News Herald December 8, 2016
WTIP North Shore Morning, Artist’s Interview about Grand Marais Art Colony, Feb. 16, 2016
KUMD Radio Gallery, “Found Horizons, Karen Owsley Nease,” May 11, 2015
Ennyman’s Territory, “Another Visit with Artist/Painter Karen Owsley Nease” April 13, 2015
MNArtists.org , “The State of the Art Up North,” Tim White, January 21, 2015
The Duluth Reader #780, March 2014 “From KC to Big Lake Country” Ed Newman.
Review, 6/2004 “Salon Extreme”, “2004 Kansas City Flatfiles.” Lauren DeLand.
Kansas City Star, July 25, 2003, “Is/Was,” Elisabeth Kirsch.
Kansas City Star, December 14, 2001, “Kansas City Flatfiles,” Alice Thorson.
Review, 6/2001 “A is for Abstract, R is for Real, S is for Space – Space Oddity,” Marcus Cain.
Kansas City Star, June 22, 2001, “Ground Control to MajorArt,” Kate Hackman.
Review, 3/2000, “A Luminous Accommodation of Abstraction,” Heather Lustfeldt.
Kansas City Star, January 21, 2000 edition. A review of “New Paintings,” Elisabeth Kirsch.
Kansas City Star, July 30, 1999 edition. A review of “Karma,” Elisabeth Kirsch.
Kansas City Star, July 18, 1997 edition. A review of “Summer in the City,” Elisabeth Kirsch.
The Forum Magazine, June-July 1996,“Mindful Reflections of Three” by Amy Scott.
The Forum Magazine, January-February 1996. A review of “Juror’s Choice” by Mel Jarvis.
New American Paintings, inclusion in the 1st Midwest edition, 1995, Open Studios Press.
