Katie Sullivan

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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