Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kay Kenny. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kay, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I identified myself as a visual artist when in 3rd grade, at 8 yrs old, my teacher proclaimed that i was very good at drawing-I applied for a local scholarship to the arts center and won! That summer was the beginning of a very long career as a visual artist. I attended classes at the arts center, encouraged, I took more classes. In high school I received a scholarship to a special class at Moore College of Art, followed by a full tuition scholarship to Syracuse University. Needless to say, my parents and all of the teachers who provided me with instruction and support were critical. That being said, fine arts as a vocation is not an easy one- I don’t make a living from the sales of my work. I’ve had numerous art related jobs and I teach photography as an adjunct at NYU- but if i had to depend on my creative work, I would not survive. As a creative, no matter whether its visual or another media, the ups and downs of a career can be a real roller coaster. Rejections and rejections and then BAM! someone want to buy,collect, put your work in an exhibit. After nearly 70 years, I still can’t stop-the images just keep coming -the need to make them visual is just too strong.

Kay, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

After receiving an MFA from Syracuse University, I worked in a variety of art studios before getting adjunct photography teaching positions t ICP, NYU and a few other universities. I have had solo exhibitions of my photographs in several museums at home and abroad. My work in several collections. I have also received numerous awards for my work including four NJ State Council of the Arts awards and the Arthur Griffin award. MY work is include in several books on photography including Lyle Rexer’s “Antiquarian Avant-Garde” Abrams Pub. and Robert Hirsch’s “Photography in the Digital Age”, Routledge Press. In the past decade or more, I have specialized in rural night photography-painting with light by using a flashlight in rural settings where there is no ambient light. My work is available for sale either directly through. me from my website www.kaykenny.com or through Artsy. If someone wishes to be place on my mailing list for upcoming exhibits, they can contact me through the email on my website. Current gallery affiliations include Emerge Gallery, Saugerties, NY and Equity Gallery, New York City.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

One of the most important lessons I have learned about thriving as a visual artist is the need for community. More than a decade ago, I spent some time at VCCA, an artist residency in Virginia. I realized how much I needed to have artists around me and rented a studio in an old factory building being reused for artist studios with the idea of gentrifying an abandoned waterfront district in Jersey City, NJ. The landlord received special tax breaks for renting to artists. During that time I was part of the core creation of the Art Studio Tours in Jersey City. A decade later, when Jersey City started to flourish and the area around the old factory rebounded with new construction, we were all evicted and the building demolished. There was no replacement for the studio spaces.
Work spaces such as that old factory- buildings that are of no value to industry, are crucial to maintaining arts in the community. They need to be supported for the sake of not only the artists but for what they bring to the community-the artist tours continue to this day in Jersey City but they are no long in the studios and the education and experience of the public in seeing the artist work in the studio is a very different experience from an anonymous wall of images.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kaykenny.com
• Instagram: kaykennyphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kay.kenny.5/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-kenny-b7563117/

Image Credits

meryl meisler, portrait in studio
kay kenny, all portfolio images