Bio

Kate Clark (b. 1983) is a multimedia sculptor who grew up in Cold Spring, Minnesota. She received an M.F.A in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle (2011). She received a B.A. in Studio Art from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota (2006). In the time between her degrees, Kate spent two years as an artist-in-resident and staff member at Franconia Sculpture Park, a non-profit arts organization that supports emerging artists. While there she focused her efforts on fabricating large-scale outdoor sculpture and organizing community oriented programs. Since returning to Minneapolis in 2015, after six years on the west coast, Kate has been working as a Studio Assistant for In Plain Sight Art, a public art studio located in the Casket Arts Building. She also works as a Teaching Artist at Artistry, in Bloomington, Minnesota.  

Artist Statement

"Active Art" is a term I have created to describe the way in which I blur the line between interaction, participation, collaboration, and performance. At times I am the active participant, at other times the viewer is called upon to take on that role. Through making this type of work I hope to create a heightened sense of awareness for myself and for those that choose to participate. 

The themes in my work are ever evolving and I hope they continue to shift and change according to my environment, relationships, material resources, personal perspective, age, etc. Staying open to where the creative process has to take me is a big part of what makes art and art-making such a fascinating field to be a part of.  

Teaching Philosophy

As an Artist and advocate for education as a means for cultural betterment, my goal is to develop students that think like Artists. Thinking like an Artist means being curious, asking questions, generating ideas, and embracing play. It also means taking risks, developing the capacity to make connections, becoming more comfortable with ambiguity, adopting a veracious appetite for cross-disciplinary research, tapping into one's own intuition, and learning how to make thoughtful decisions. The best way I know of teaching these valuable life skills is by guiding students through the creative process themselves. This is one of the many reasons why I feel so passionate about teaching Art and sharing with the next generation ways in which they can shape the world into a place they want to live. 

Similar to my art making process, I view education as a vehicle for growth and a means of understanding the world around us. The main difference being that education is by nature a collaboration between student and teacher. Teachers help to bridge the gap between where a student currently is and their next step forward, providing references, resources, skills, perspective and confidence in order to help them down their path. Students, however, must be equally active participants in the process in order for collaboration to be effective. The teachers I have admired most, and strive to emulate, are incredibly knowledgeable about the subjects they teach and passionate about connecting with their students. Making the collaboration not only effective, but grounds for positive, personal, and social evolution.