Kathy Pennington
Kathy Pennington | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 25, 1953 Seattle, Washington |
| Education | Pacific Northwest College of Art |
| Known for | Paintings and murals depicting the Black Albina district of Portland, Oregon |
| Notable work | IFCC Kathy Pennington New Works (2000), Black Artists of Oregon (2023-2024), King School Museum of Contemporary Art (2026) |
| Spouse | Joseph Pennington (m. 1977; div. 1984)[citation needed] |
Kathy Pennington (born Katherine Fay Howard; 1953 in Seattle, Washington) is an American artist known for figurative acrylic paintings, murals, and glazed clay tile reliefs.[1][2][3] She is also known professionally as K. F. Howard and Katherine Pennington.[4] She lives and works in Portland, Oregon, and owns a house in the same Albina neighborhood where she grew up.[5]
Pennington brings the history of her neighborhood to life in the scenes and characters of her paintings, hoping that viewers will connect with the subjects emotionally.[3] Her paintings often depict family and community gatherings, as well as everyday life in neighborhood businesses, barbershops, restaurants, churches, and bus stops.[3]
Pennington was a postal employee for more than three decades, working as a distribution clerk on the overnight shift for much of that time. The job enabled her to work on art projects during the day to offset the typically unreliable income of an artist.[5]
Representative works
[edit]You're My Tenth Customer
[edit]
This work was commissioned for Portland's Visual Chronicle project, based on Pennington's proposal to create a painting of the interior of the “Waves” hair salon.[4] It features both a hairdresser and a customer.
The painting brings the Black hairdresser and shop owner, Veronica, to the foreground. Her vivid red dress and a large red earring dominate the scene, making a statement that she is the center of the story. Viewers see only the customer's back and head, with a focus on the placement of curling rollers. But outside the window, a close-up cityscape in muted shades of blue and green looms large, situating Veronica's work in the city. The project required an identifiable location within the city of Portland, which Pennington addressed by incorporating recognizable neighborhood businesses and organizations. Along with the painting's title, little doubt is left that this hairdresser works hard to make a living.[4]
Pennington conveys the message through her careful choice of strong colors in the foreground and muted colors in the background to make a statement by featuring a hard-working woman. At the same time, she tells the story of the neighborhood.[4][6]
A Song We Sing
[edit]
During the 1990s, Pennington made fired clay tile reliefs based on photographs or public images. The pieces feature molded clay figures that project from the surface, creating three-dimensional designs. Seven were displayed at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center exhibition "Una Kim & Kathy Pennington New Works."[1][2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "IFCC Gallery presents Una Kim & Kathy Pennington". The Portland Observer. August 2, 2000. p. 3.
- 1 2 Portland City Archives, F/2882368
- 1 2 3 "Kathy Pennington + Harriet Tubman Center for Expanded Curatorial Practice". KSMoCA. Archived from the original on September 4, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Katherine Pennington". Public Art Archive. Archived from the original on September 6, 2026.
- 1 2 Kelly, Jill (June 1999). "Chronicling the Portland Streets". The Women's Journal: 17.
- ↑ Tinker, Irene (Summer 2000). "Alleviating Poverty: Investing in Women's Work". APA Journal. 66 (3): 229.