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Kathleen Kvern is the Chief Operations Officer at Artspace. In this role, she oversees the National Advancement and Consulting departments and works with the President on the strategic direction and funding of the organization. Kathleen joined Artspace in 2013.
Prior to joining Artspace, Kathleen was the Development Director for Northwoods NiiJii (NiiJii means “friends” in Ojibwe), a nonprofit economic development organization located in rural northern Wisconsin that assists 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 in-depth knowledge of working with individual artists, community building in the arts, and internet technologies and social networking.
Kathleen has a strong entrepreneurial background and was the co-founder and owner of The Fine Line in Chicago. She also 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.
Kathleen is a mom to her daughter, Emma, and is an encaustic artist and instructor.