ARTIST BIO

Kate Kolbrener approaches painting as an act of excavation. Through layers of where acrylic, charcoal, collage, wax, crayon, pencil, and other mixed media she builds and uncovers surfaces that mirror the ways memory, grief, beauty, and resilience accumulate over a lifetime. Rather than illustrating experience, her abstract mixed media paintings embody it—inviting viewers into richly textured spaces where ruin and renewal coexist, and where what has been buried can be transformed.

Working intuitively, Kolbrener allows each painting to evolve through accumulation, erasure, and revelation. Marks are covered, scraped back, and rediscovered, echoing the ways identity itself is continually rewritten. Fragments of geometry, stitched lines, luminous color, and organic forms suggest histories that remain present even as they are reimagined, creating works that invite reflection, connection, and unexpected moments of wonder.

Originally trained in metalsmithing and graphic design, Kolbrener earned a BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art. After decades balancing creative pursuits with family life and a successful marketing career, she returned fully to the studio, where painting became both an artistic practice and a form of inquiry into healing, resilience, and renewal. She continues to deepen her practice through artist residencies, immersive study, and ongoing exploration of abstraction.

Her work has been exhibited at the Sonoran Arts League and The Finer Arts Gallery in Cave Creek, Arizona, and featured in the Bower Willo Project in Phoenix. Throughout her practice, Kolbrener remains committed to the belief that creativity is an essential force for transformation. Each painting becomes an excavation—not simply of memory, but of possibility—making space for beauty, resilience, and the quiet act of becoming.

ARTICLES

2026

Bold Journey: Perspectives on Staying Creative: Meet Kate Kolbrener

EXHIBITS

2026

Coming Up: BETWEEN HERE & THERE Solo Exhibition—Commonplace Coffee, Rockwell Park‍ in Pittsburgh, PA from September 1 - October 31 in Pittsburgh, PA. Opening Reception Thursday, September 3 from 4-6 pm. Opening Reception Thursday, September 3 from 4-6 pm.

Coming Up: WILD AMBITION: A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN’S CREATIVE FORCE Dual City Group Exhibition organized by CG Art Collective —Opens on Thursday, October 1 in San Diego, CA; Show runs October 1-4. Opens on Thursday, November 5 in Phoenix, AZ; Show runs through the holidays.

Ongoing: The Finer Arts Gallery —Jury-selected to install collection of work within artist-owned gallery located in Cave Creek, AZ

2025

The Bower Willo Project Selected to participate in a curated collection designed to connect Arizona's Creative Community with thoughtfully designed residences throughout Phoenix.

2023

Sonoran Arts League New Member Show in Cave Creek, AZ

EXPERIENCE

2026

Bibby Gignilliat In-Studio Mixed Media Workshops, Sausalito, CA Attended two in-studio group workshops focused on mixed media painting and collage

Art2Life Creative Visionary Program (CVP), Online Returned as an alumni to this twelve-week program focused on composition, color relationships, and creative process under the leadership of Nicholas Wilton

2025

Art2Life Creative Visionary Program (CVP), Online Twelve-week program focused on composition, color relationships, and creative process under the leadership of Nicholas Wilton

Radiant Hall Artist Residency, Pittsburgh, PA Completed a three-month summer residency focused on abstract painting and material exploration. Mediums: Acrylic and mixed media on board and canvas (often integrating oil, charcoal, pencil, and collage)

2024

Tubac School of Art, Tubac, Arizona 3-day watercolor intensive with Stan Kurth

Art2Life Workshop, Playa del Carmen, Mexico Weeklong immersive painting workshop with Nicholas Wilton and his Art2Life Team

2020

Jenny Nelson Painting Intensive, Online Multi-week course emphasizing structure, gesture, and intuitive abstraction

2019

Touchstone School of Crafts, Farmington, PA Week-long precious metals clay workshop

2016

Touchstone School of Crafts, Farmington, PA  3-day blacksmithing workshop

EDUCATION

1996: Carnegie Mellon University, Completed master’s level coursework in Interaction Design

1984: University of Michigan, BFA, Metalsmithing & Design