Artist: Kate Schroeder

Kate Schroeder, MISSOURI
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Kate Schroeder is a ceramicist and full time professional artist residing in Kansas City, Missouri. She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Ceramics from the University of Central Missouri and a Masters of Fine Arts also emphasizing Sculpture and Ceramics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  Although her academic focus was on sculptural forms, Kate has spent the last 7 years as a potter, focusing on functional works. She is currently a Red Star Career Resident at Belger Crane Yard Studios. In addition to her career as a professional artist, she also spent nearly a decade as an adjunct educator, and several years managing a ceramics studio/ Not-For-Profit arts organization, which specialized in teaching art to people with disabilities. Kate has also spent the last 3 years developing a business as a jeweler. In this business she makes braille jewelry and has recently partnered with the National Braille Press.

My recent work is inspired by the emotional impact of collecting objects; why we collect them, and the significance of the ones we choose. The dimensions of the objects in my work are hierarchical. The three dimensional objects represent my lineage, marriage and career while the two dimensional illustrations are nostalgic and joyful. The overarching themes between the dimensions are whimsy and delight.

The work also celebrates the balance of a domestic home and the integral use of nature within these spaces. Throughout time humans have created shelters to protect us from the elements, yet we have spent just as long welcoming plants into our homes. They give them as much, if not more, substance than all other significant things within our dwellings, as they are living organisms simply arranged as the objects we cherish.