 Katie Sullivan is the founder and former coordinator for RoCA, the Reynolds Gallery of Contemporary Art, which operates out of the high school. Katie now teaches Fine Arts at Ida B Wells High School in Portland, Oregon. "Teaching in the painting and drawing studio has always influenced my art and encouraged me to explore a lot of styles and mediums that are representational to more abstract. Lately, I find my own paintings to be more personal. Having recently moved my home and studio, I have been thinking a lot about materialism and my relationships to objects with the stories and attachments they inherit." I have spent nearly twenty years working with artists, co-ops, curating shows, producing creative interventions, while also being a teacher, artist, mother and partner. I painted with Metro Murals, earned two RACC grants, ran a gallery out of my storefront apartment. In my teaching, I incorporated Gallery Management as a class for students to earn credit for curating working artists, and get hands on experience running a creative business. Students also recorded a monthly podcast "Art Talk Bus Stop" interviewing artists about how to make a living. The gallery exposed the community to current, affordable art and converted people into true art patrons. Gallery students created art for Stephanie Syjuco's notMoMA, a work of social practice art that engages local high school students for the Portland Art Museum. I grew up in New Jersey and moved out west to study art for her undergrad at Lewis and Clark College and Portland State University, and later earned a Masters in Teaching at Lewis and Clark College in 2002. I also taught in the graduate schools for education at both Lewis and Clark and PSU, and was awarded a summer residency at the Minnesota College of Art and Design. You can see my work annually at the RoCA Art Auction. I am available for commissions. If you would like to connect contact me at casullivan@pps.net. |
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