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Kathleen Kvern is Senior Vice President of National Advancement at Artspace. The core responsibility of this position is to raise the private funds necessary to complete individual Artspace projects in communities across the country.
Prior to joining Artspace Kathleen was Development Director for Northwoods NiiJii (NiiJii means “friends” in Ojibwe), a nonprofit Economic Development organization located in rural Northern Wisconsin assisting Native American communities. While there she developed and implemented a regional Woodland Indian Arts Initiative, and opened the Woodland Indian Art Center located on the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation. Prior to Northwoods NiiJii, Kathleen worked at the Walker Art Center as Project Director of mnartists.org, providing her with a depth of knowledge working with individual artists, community building in the arts, and internet technologies and social networking.
Kathleen has a strong entrepreneurial background and was co-founder and owner of The Fine Line in Chicago; and assisted in opening Studium in Manhattan. She was a founding member of the Twin Cities Fine Arts Organization and has done independent consulting and development work for diverse organizations including the Minnesota Museum of American Art, All My Relations Gallery, the Loring Park Art Festival, and the Madeline Island School of the Arts.
Being part of a creative community and developing her own creativity and creative process is vital to her sense of well being. She participated in Intermedia Arts’ leadership program, The Creative Community Leadership Institute, one of only a few programs nationwide to provide comprehensive, professional-level training and support for local, community-engaged artists and community developers.
Kathleen lives in South Minneapolis with her daughter, Emma, and their squirrel-chasing English Springer Spaniel, Daisy.