BIO
Kathie Foley-Meyer is a mixed media artist whose work explores themes of interconnectedness, memory, visibility and transparency. She completed a PhD in Visual Studies at UC Irvine, where her dissertation project focused on the ocean memory of Black lives lost during the trade in human beings from the African continent. She received her MFA in the Writing Program in Critical Studies from California Institute of the Arts. As an arts advocate, she served on the board of LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) from 2011 to 2019, with the last three years as chair. She also served on the board of the Museum of Neon Art, and is part of the Advisory Committee for Fulcrum Arts. Kathie was part of the art selection and art advisory committees for Metro Art for the Expo Metrorail Line, and has served on grant panels for the LA County Arts Commission. As an arts consultant she worked on CSR for a company in the global finance sector and has provided services to arts organizations serving Black communities in Los Angeles.
EXHIBITIONS
2024
“DESCENT & TRANSFORMATION, VOL. I: VOYAGES TO THE AMERICAS”: Curator of exhibition related to the UCI Humanities MRPI research collaboration grant “Routes of Enslavement in the Americas.”
2021
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, CULTURAL PROGRAMS, Washington D.C.: Acquisition for the NAS permanent collection of Privilege Grid No. 3, mixed media, and In The Wake: With the Bones of Our Ancestors, watercolor and wax on paper
TAICHUNG CITY GALLERIES, “TAIWAN AND THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL ART AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE EXHIBITION”: Womb, inkjet print, Years of Rebellion: The Jolly Batchelor, inkjet print
2019
RESIDENCY ART, “HOMEBASE”: MARCH-AIRBORNE, mixed media light box, PINK SUIT BIKE, mixed media light box
RESIDENCY ART, “GRAND PARK: OUR L.A. VOICES”, MARCH-AIRBORNE, mixed media light box
SOUTH BAY CONTEMPORARY, “IN PURSUIT OF BEAUTY-LA 2019”, YEARS OF REBELLION: BORNEO, inkjet mixed media print
2018
ONTARIO MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ART, ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA, “DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: THE INFLUENCE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA”, TWELVE VOYAGES, “UNTITLED” from the “Memory Parade” series)
SOUTH BAY CONTEMPORARY, “IN PURSUIT OF BEAUTY-LA”: TWELVE VOYAGES, MARCH, mixed media light box; IN THE WAKE: WITH THE BONES OF OUR ANCESTORS
2017
SUDACHI, 2017 TOKYO INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY EXHIBITION, “IN PURSUIT OF BEAUTY”, TWELVE VOYAGES
WOMAN MADE GALLERY, CHICAGO, “WILD CUTS”: CITIZEN/SOLDIER, mixed-media installation
NAN RAE GALLERY, WOODBURY UNIVERSITY, “THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGINARY”, CITIZEN/SOLDIER, mixed-media installation
2016
BLACK ARTISTS IN LOS ANGELES (BAILA): Edited Issue No. 2 of BAILA Zine, THE CODE ISSUE
LOS ANGELES MUNICIPAL ART GALLERY, “SKIN”: Privilege Grid No. 1, Privilege Grid No. 3
ANN ARBOR ART CENTER, “REAL AMERICAN”: Colored Entrance, mixed media photograph
LOS ANGELES MUNICIPAL ART GALLERY, “S\ELECTION”: Untitled”- “Memory Parade” series), March, mixed media light box
2015
CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM, “Hard-Edged: Geometrical Abstraction and Beyond” Brown People, Glass House, mixed media glass
LA ARTCORE, solo show, Los Angeles
Memory Parade, acrylic-mounted ink-jet photographs and mixed media sound and video installation
LA ARTCORE JAPAN-U.S. ARTISTS EXCHANGE SHOW
Traveled to Japan with 11 American artists for joint exhibitions with 36 Japanese artists in three locations; KITAKYUSHU MUNICIPAL MUSEUM OF ART – We Got The Little Tokyo Blues,Untitled (Bronzeville), Untitled (Intruder), Colored Entrance; ASHIYA MUNICIPAL GALLERY – Suburban Memory Boxes 1, 2 & 3; KYOTO INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION GALLERY – We Got The Little Tokyo Blues, Untitled (Bronzeville), Colored Entrance
2012
BARNSDALL GALLERY THEATRE & ART FROM THE ASHES, “Wellness Works,” Los Angeles: Dead Shop Scroll, chalk on paper, wood, metal, paper, nails, plastic tubing
ORANGE COUNTY FAIR & THE MUSEUM OF NEON ART, “Home Sweet Home,” Santa Ana: Brown People, Glass House, mixed media glass
2011
ROYAL T GALLERY AND ART FROM THE ASHES, “Artists Unite for Japan,” Los Angeles: Ghost Element, mixed media
JRB ART AT THE ELMS, “Cutting Edge Glass,” Oklahoma City: Brown People, Glass House, mixed media glass
ART CUBE STUDIOS, CHICAGO STREET GALLERY and NICOLE VILLENEUVE GALLERY, Chicago, “FW: Mailin’ It In”: Wish You Were Here, Rien n’est perdu, Souhait tu étais ici, all acrylic photo collage on paper
2010
AUSTIN DETAILS ART + PHOTO, “The Neon Show”: Kind of Blue, neon sculpture
LOUISVILLE VISUAL ART ASSOCIATION, “Ne 10: Louisville”: Bronzeville III, neon, glass and wood sculpture
2005-2009
LOS ANGELES MUNICIPAL ART GALLERY (2009): Mate Masie: I Have Heard It and Kept It, mixed media sculpture
LOS ANGELES MUNICIPAL ART GALLERY, (2007): Kind of Blue, neon sculpture
MUSEUM OF NEON ART (2006): Bronzeville, neon sculpture; Kind of Blue, neon sculpture
PUBLICATIONS
Integrative Contemporary Art and Science Practices, overlay of continents illustration for article by Jody Deming, in collaboration with Rebecca Rutstein, to be published in 2024 by Routledge
Tilt West Journal: Art and Science October 2022 – “We Claim the Deep: Art & Ocean Memory”
“Shock and Awe: Mark Greenfield’s Incognegro series” – Chapter for the book accompanying the exhibition
“Mark Steven Greenfield: A Survey, 2001-2021”
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT\ CONFERENCES\PUBLIC ART PROJECTS\CULTURAL EXCHANGE
2021 to the present
OCEAN MEMORY PROJECT
Participated in the 2020 Ocean Memory Seed Seminar on Cognition and Genomics, the 2021 Seminar or Senses and Sensing; served as a co-organizer of the 2023 “Memory Loss,” workshop on Sapelo Island, Georgia, and attended the 2023 Writing Workshop at the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories. Currently working on a grant-funded project derived from the Seed Seminar and one derived from the Writing Workshop.
SLAVEVOYAGES.ORG REDESIGN WORKSHOP, RICE UNIVERSITY
Co-presenter and facilitator of 2023 community workshop for the collection of input on the redesign of the website and database.
GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY AWARDS, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Served on UCI faculty-graduate student screening committee; reviewed electronic media entries (2017-2021).
2018
LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION – OGP PANELIST
Reviewed and evaluated grants for 14 local arts organizations that specialize in the visual arts.
2017
LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION – PUBLIC ART SELECTION PANELIST
Served on the artist selection panel for the RFQ associated with the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex.
GARDENA VALLEY JAPANESE CULTURAL INSTITUTE
Assisted in the planning of a series of events commemorating the issuance of Executive Order 9066 and Bronzeville and exhibited “Little Tokyo Blues” and “Untitled (Intruder)” in GVJCI’s Art Exhibition,”Visions of Japanese American Incarceration 1942-2017”.
LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL
Collaborated with Form Follows Function, a media studio specializing in short-form documentary, on BRONZEVILLE, LITTLE TOKYO, a 2-day multimedia site-specific installation and related programming.
2014-2016
PASADENA PLAYHOUSE – GEORGIA T. MCCLAY FRIENDSHIP CENTER GALLERY
Created sound and visual installation for the 2016 production of FLY, a play about the Tuskegee Airmen by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan. Co-curator (with Peter J. Harris) for community outreach installation for the 2014 production of KISS ME, KATE. The installation included a selective timeline and my original artwork and artifacts of Black theatre in the United States from 1821 to 1971. Created community outreach installation for the Playhouse production of STOP KISS. The gallery was transformed into a “Park of the Mind” to enrich the viewer’s experience of the play and highlight the universality of first love and a first kiss.
2011-2013
PROJECT BRONZEVILLE
I created a multidisciplinary collaboration inspired by a brief WWII-era period in Los Angeles history in the early 1940s, when the section of the city known as Little Tokyo became known as Bronzeville. Primary events included an art exhibition; a run of the play BRONZEVILLE written by Aaron Woolfolk and Tim Toyama by The Robey Theatre Company at LATC; a staged reading of the play for students at The Accelerated School in downtown Los Angeles; a symposium and a jazz concert at the blue whale jazz club in Little Tokyo featuring the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble.
ARTS CONSULTING
FULCRUM ARTS (May 2018 – present): Member of advisory board for Fulcrum Arts
GUGGENHEIM PARTNERS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LLC (2013 – 2020): Assisted financial services company with developing their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program in Los Angeles.
THE WORLD STAGE (2012 – 2017): Provided assistance with grant applications, fundraising and strategic planning.
THE ROBEY THEATRE COMPANY (2011 – 2017): As a member of Robey’s Advisory Board; I provided assistance with fundraising and strategic planning and graphic design services.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Visual Studies, University of California, Irvine
M.A. in Vistual Studies, University of California, Irvine
MFA, California Institute of the Arts; Writing Program, School of Critical Studies
Pilchuck Glass School, Second Session, Summer 2010, Neon Class with Jeremy Bert
Art Center College of Design, Art Center at Night; classes in industrial, graphic design, 2005 – 07 UCLA Extension Design Communication Arts Program 2003 – 2005
The Grantsmanship Training Program – Grant Proposal Workshop, 2003
BS in Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
AWARDS & ACTIVITIES
Member, Advisory Committee, Fulcrum Arts
Member, Board of Trustees, LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) 2011-2019, Chair 2016-2019
CRA\LA Pre-Qualified Public Art Consultant, 2009-2012
Member, Board of Trustees, Museum of Neon Art, 2006-2012
Presented Black History Month slide lecture on Bronzeville to the Wilfandel Club, February 2007 Member, Metro Art Advisory Group/Exposition Light Rail Project 2006-2007
Member, LACE Annual Benefit Auction Steering Committee, 2007
Member, Metro Art Expo Line Downtown/USC Segment Artist Selection Panel, 2007
Docent, Los Angeles Conservancy, “Downtown’s Evolving Skyline,” 2004-2005
Durfee Fellow, 1997, with choreographer Arianne MacBean
LINKS
Fulcrum Arts presentation: DEEP OCEAN DEEP SPACE
Issues In Science and Technology
Tilt West Panel Discussion on Fire and Water: The Art and Science of the West in Crisis
Ocean Memory Project Webinar 2: The In-Between: Ocean Memorialization of Blackness
Getty Graduate Symposium 2022, Session II: “The Art of Ocean Memory: Exploring the Territoriality and Temporality of Blackness”
KCET Article Now Be Here: Los Angeles, August 28, 2016
JANM Blog article on Bronzeville News
Downtown News article on Project Bronzeville
Los Angeles Magazine article on Project Bronzeville