"Two Turtles" by Kat Cunningham
Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, the regional arts council for the coast of Oregon, welcomes Lane County artist, Kat Cunningham to the Coastal Oregon Visual Artist Showcase from June 7 through June 29. Cunningham’s exhibit, “Pacific Passions,” examines the colors, textures and forms of the many places she has lived on the Pacific Ocean. Meet the artist at the opening reception on June 7 from 5 to 7pm.
Since 2007, Kat Cunningham has lived and worked in Florence. “Now influenced by the Oregon sea life and coastal beauty, I bloomed aesthetically. I found my message, medium and passion all in one. My present work is Encaustic and my message is still the same – human connection, consciousness through nature. Encaustic has everything I have known as an artist. I can paint, draw, sculpt, use mixed media approaches, work in graphic design and incorporate collage’ – sky seems to be the limit. I also have found my style here and have come to terms with the next direction for me,” she says. “Art was a destiny for me, not something that just happened. It rounds out and shapes all facets of my life choices.”
"Day at the Shore" by Kat Cunningham
Cunningham has had a varied career and lived in many places. “Each place I have moved I gathered the colors, textures, living patterns and environmental disconnection of nature to make my statement.” In the seventies, she lived in southern California, owned graphic design studios and started the first fiber arts magazine, Fibernews, while she was involved in the colors and texture of manipulated and structural fibers and textiles and textile art form.
“Belonging to the prestigious LAIS -Los Angeles Illustrators Society, I chose to tell the Air force story in graphic designed fabrics as illustration and presented the pieces each year in Washington DC to the USAF Illustrators program for the Sec of State of the Air force,” she states. “In the 80’s I was again influenced by my environment when I chose to live in Europe for 7 years. Touring and traveling to see art I had only read about brought finesse to my work. I honed my drawing skills further. Living closer to nature and seeing how Europeans treat their environment fueled my nature passion to a new level.”
Living in Maui gave her a deeper connection to sea life and the plant world as art subjects. In Scottsdale, Arizona, she was inspired by the Native American culture. She has exhibited her work in Los Angeles, California, Washington DC, Heidelberg, Germany, Maui, Hawaii, and Florence, Oregon. Cunningham has received numerous awards including USAF award, Best of show; Rhododendron Art Show – First and 3rd place in mix-media 2 years; Celebrate Arts Florence FEC, Oregon Pacific Bank and Siuslaw Public Library. Recently she was one of 19 chosen nationwide for Cloth Paper & Scissors Magazine for Cancer Awareness Art.
As the President of the Florence Arts and Crafts Association, she started the movement to financially and artistically support art in the middle schools and developed a youth mentoring program. As past president, she helped establish the coast’s only Action for Youth Art program and youth gallery, raised funds, and planned programs with PTA and Boys & Girls Club art training. She assisted with a Ford Family Foundation grant to redevelop FACA – Now called PSCA Pacific Shores Community of Artisans to fit a greater community/arts collaborative vision.
Pacific Passions is an exhibit of mixed media, paintings and encaustics with influences from her life on the Pacific Ocean in a variety of settings. A video about Kat Cunningham will accompany her exhibit and will then become part of the Coastal Oregon Visual Artists Video Archive.
Oregon Coast Council for the Arts is a nonprofit arts organization and the regional arts council for Curry, Coos, Lincoln, Tillamook, Clatsop and the coastal towns of Douglas and Lane counties. OCCA brings high quality arts experiences to the coast. The Coastal Oregon Visual Artists Showcase features mid-career artists within the arts council. The Newport Visual Arts Center is located at 777 NW Beach Drive on the beach in the historic Nye Beach area of Newport. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 4pm and by appointment. For additional information or to schedule a viewing outside of regular hours, call OCCA VAC Director, Sally Houck at 541-265-6569.