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Joe Santa Maria Kill the Ball Media Kat O'Connor with her oil painting Hush

The above photograph was taken by Joe Santa Maria of Kill the Ball Media. Pictured is Kat O'Connor with her painting 'Hush' at the Worcester Center for Crafts' exhibit 'Luminous Will: Paintings by Kat O'Connor."

Contact: katopaints@yahoo.com

Biography

Kat O’Connor is a full-time artist and art instructor living outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

O’Connor’s work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States. She is a Copley Master with the Copley Society of Artists, and was honored with a Co/So Fellowship and Residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown Massachusetts in 2023, and was a 2021 Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts Resident. She was awarded a Mass Cultural Council Fellowship for her drawings and two ArtsWorcester Material Needs Grants. She has lead painting classes in Texas, New Mexico, Italy, Greece, and throughout New England.

O’Connor works in watercolor, acrylic, and oil, and her paintings explore water in many of its various forms- frequently with the figure included.

Her work can be viewed at katopaints.com and @katopaints.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 Kat O'Connor: Ripple in the Black, Creative Connections Gallery, Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
2022 Fathom: The Art of Kat O'Connor, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts.
2022 Bits, Kind of a Small Array, Magdelena, New Mexico.
2019 This Fluid Report of Motion, ArtsWorcester@ the Printers Building, Worcester, Massachusetts.
2017 Kat O'Connor, Reynolds Fine Art, New Haven, Connecticut.
2014 Luminous Will: Paintings by Kat O'Connor, Worcester Center for Crafts, Worcester, Massachusetts.
2013 Ripple in the Blue: Paintings by Kat O'Connor. ECA+ Gallery, Easthampton, Massachusetts.
2012 Water in the Desert. The Hanover Theatre’s Franklin Society Salon Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts.
2007 Kat O’Connor: Art in the Garden, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts.
2002 Set in Glass: Paintings and Drawings by Kat O’Connor, Taber Art Gallery, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
2000 Kat O’Connor, Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
2000 Kat O’Connor: Recent Watercolors, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts.
1998 Windows, Goodstein Gallery, Casper College, Casper, Wyoming.
1997 Creature Comforts, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, Wyoming.
1995-1996 Points of Reference/Reverence, Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Selected Exhibitions
2023 Twentieth ArtsWorcester Biennial, Worcester, Massachusetts. Conor Moynihan, Juror.
2023 87th Regional Exhibition of Art and Craft, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Chenoa Baker, Juror.
2023 MJ2, (Baldwin Prize for Drawing), Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Concord, Massachusetts. Kelley Lehr, Juror.
2022 The Newport Annual 2022, Newport Art Museum, Newport Rhode Island. Dr. Kimberli Gant, Juror.
2022 Made in Paint 2022, Golden Artist Colors, New Berlin, New York.
2022 Origin, JMAC Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts. Curated by Michelle May and Payal Thiffault.
2021 Blue, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Jessica May, Juror.
2021 Nineteenth ArtsWorcester Biennial, (Sally Bishop Prize for Best in Show) ArtsWorcester, Worcester, Massachusetts. Beth C. McLaughlin, Juror.
2021 New Beginnings, (First Prize), Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Ali Ringenburg, Juror.
2020 Unity, (First Prize) Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Christina Michelon, Juror.
2020 21st Annual Frances N. Roddy Open Competition, (Prize for Water) Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Concord, MA. Lisa Crossman, Juror.
2020 Arts in Bloom, (Honorable Mention) The Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Marie Craig, Juror.
2020 The Newport Annual 2020, Newport Art Museum, Newport Rhode Island. Dr. Sharon Matt Atkins, Juror.
2020 Full Spectrum, (First Prize) Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Gordon Wilkins, Juror.
2019 You: Artists Depict Themselves, The Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Arthur Dion, Juror.
2019 Call and Response: A Matter of Perspective, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
2019 Re/Vision (First Prize), Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Erin Corales-Diaz, Worcester Art Museum, Juror.
2018 83rd Regional Exhibition of Art and Craft, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Francine Weiss, Newport Art Museum, Juror.
2018 Anchors Aweigh, (Second Prize), Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Carey Vose, Juror.
2017 Definite:Indefinite, Works by Kat O'Connor and Michael Hachey, Krikorian Gallery, Worcester Center for Crafts, Worcester, Massachusetts.
2017 Summer Hours, (Second Prize), Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, Hope Turner and Zola Solamente, Arden Gallery, Jurors.
2016 Ship to Shore, (First Prize), Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. Austin Bailey, Curator of American Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Juror.
2016 WOW! Women of Worcester. Davis Art Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts. Curated by John Vo, Nine Dot Gallery.
2016 Hello, My Name Is...Addicted to Art, Mcgowan Fine Art, Concord, New Hampshire.
2015 Un-ex-pect-ed. (First Prize), Copley Society of Art, Boston, Massachusetts. FlatFile Boston, Juror.
2013 Details: Paintings by Louise Arnold and Kat O'Connor. Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, Massachusetts.
2011 Arts in Bloom, (First Place) The Cultural Arts Alliance of Hopkinton, Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Deborah Davidson, Juror.
2006 Clinton Olde Home Days Juried Exhibition, (First Place, Watercolor) Clinton, Massachusetts. Sue Swinand, Juror.
2006 Arts in Bloom, (First Place Category: Oils/Acrylics) juried exhibition. Cultural Arts Alliance, Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Robert Aiello, Raymond Andreotti, Louise Melton, Jurors.
1996 Wyoming Works, (Best of Show), Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, Wyoming. Cathryn Mallory, Juror, Gallery Director, University of Montana.
1994 Scene Unseen III, (Honorable Mention), Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico. Luis Jimenez, Juror.

self portrait oil painting Kat O'Connor

Lost Edges, a self portrait of the artist.

Artist's Statements can be found at the base of some of the gallery pages and image pages.