We Are Knox...

Katie Bell '08

Professional Artist

Studio Art Major, Race and Gender Studies Minor

"My work transformed quickly in grad school, yet it continued to foster the body of work that I started in college."

Katie Bell '08 is one of several recent Knox College art majors to attend
top-tier MFA graduate programs and embark on promising careers as artists.
She was chosen to spend this year in residency at the Sharpe Foundation in New York, one of the most prestigious residencies in the art world. According to Knox Associate Professor of Art Mark Holmes, Knox students "are consistently competing with graduates of major art schools on both coasts for the most selective opportunities. Over the last six years, 10 of our majors have been accepted into some of the most highly ranked MFA programs in the country. This is remarkable because art students from places like Knox just aren't expected to compete with students from major art schools or university BFA programs. I believe we are unique among our peer institutions." Learn more about Katie, in her own words.

Tell us a little about what you've done since leaving Knox.
In the last two years, after finishing up my post-baccalaureate fellowship through the Knox Art Department, many changes, transitions, and adventures have taken place.

I departed Knox in 2009 and traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, to become part of the MFA Painting Program at the Rhode Island School of Design. I began the program working on the large-scale drawings that I began at Knox and further pursued more sculpture and installation work, which I had just started before leaving Galesburg.

My work transformed quickly in grad school, yet it continued to foster the body of work that I started in college.

At the end of the two-year program, my work exploded into sculptural wall installations as well as paintings on plaster forms.

How did your post-baccalaureate fellowship at Knox help you?
The post-bac fellowship through Knox was a defining factor in developing my work as well as the highly influential, critical, and supportive art faculty and community at Knox. It allowed for the time and energy to be devoted to my art, and it made me realize it was something I wanted to pursue with full force.

What have you been doing since finishing graduate school?
Since graduating from RISD in June of 2011, I have shown my work at a number of venues including Mixed Greens Gallery in New York, Nudashank's summer venue in New York, 808 Gallery in Boston, PLUG Projects in Kansas City, Caldwell College in New Jersey, and ART Chicago with NEXT: New Insights Exhibition.

At the beginning of September I relocated to Brooklyn, New York, because I was selected as a fellow of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program. This program gives you a studio space in Brooklyn for one year along with 16 other artists as a community.

The artists for the program are chosen by a distinguished group of New York based artists and critics which include: Chuck Close, Cynthia Carlson, Robert Storr, Janet Fish, Philip Pearlstein, Phong Bui, Tara Donovan, and Mathew Deleget.

I have just settled into my new studio and have begun working. I am so thrilled to take part in this program and experience the adventures of living in Brooklyn.

I thank the faculty in the Knox Art Department for all of their encouragement, support, and critical discourse. They continue to be lifelong friends and mentors.