More Practice
KARA COBB JOHNSON
ARTIST
Independent Curating
Inclusion
Professional Affiliations: MANA Contemporary Studio Artist 2023 and Chicago Sculpture International Membership Chair 2023
EDUCATION
Visual Arts Certificate, University of Chicago, Graham School, 2016
The Center Program, Hyde Park Art Center, 2015
The Bridge Program, Hyde Park Art Center, 2014
Northeastern Illinois University, Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, Liberal Arts, 2000
Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Studio Arts Major, Time Based Arts, 1994-1997
Exhibition Summary:
Exhibited work from 2014-2024 at the following list of non-profit spaces:
Hyde Park Art Center
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of Chicago
Chicago Art Department
Chicago Police Department 024 District
College of Lake County of Illinois
CSI Project Space
Beverly Arts Center
Evanston Arts Center
CNL Projects
Terrain Biennale
Edgebrook Metra Underpass
Edgebrook Library Chicago
Curt’s Café Evanston
Emily Oaks Nature Center
Trailside Museum of Natural History, River Forest
Jake’s Farm, Sauk City Wisconsin
New York City Non-Profit for humanity
Northwestern University Dittmar Gallery
Exhibited at Madron Gallery of American Art and on their Artsy platform for a group exhibition curated by Rachel Wakeman entitled “System & Dialectics of Art” 2024. Exhibited large scale paper installation at Salonlb curated by Rostrum312 in October 2023.
Created curating projects for solo installations at Space 900 in Evanston 2022 and 2023-self organized research discovery on installation and history..
Curating of Realized and Organized Conceptual and Inclusive Exhibitions:
Coalesce
Curating Project
Exhibiting Artists: Janhavi Khemka, Hai-Wen Lin, Victor Edwards, Cherylle Booker, Yimei (Emair) Zhu
CSI Project Space
October 2023
Chicago
Modern Monument
Curating Project and solo exhibition
Space 900 Gallery, Evanston, IL- November 26 & 27, 2022
Created and compiled concept-based works and supporting ephemera, composed catalog essay, installed works, promotion, de-installation, documented exhibition
Woman-At-Large Rogue Pop-Up
Artwork shown, Liminal Space, but renamed “Wiggly Worms” in this iteration.
Jake’s dirt farm along Old Cottage Road
Rogue artwork installed in support of Wormfarm Farm/ Art DTour 2022
October 1-10, 2022 Sauk City, Wisconsin
bellwether
Curating project and solo exhibition
Space 900 Gallery, Evanston, IL- March 26, 2022
Identified gallery space, created and compiled concept-based works and supporting ephemera, composed catalog essay, installed works, promotion, de-installation, documented exhibition
Mama’s Hand
Solo Exhibition of site specific installations
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL- 2019-2020 (Some works remain in-situ)
Within co-working spaces in two buildings. Collaborated with fabrication lab and leadership to create a new work out of transparent colored vinyl that spans a block of second floor windows 53rd street. Created Kickstarter campaign to record sign language for shows catalog. secured funding from Illinois Arts Couuncil to document and frame Ragdale Artists Residency works which were shown in full here for the first time. Hired installation crew to install over 150 paper airplanes 18 feet up in a skylight.
The Title
Artist Intervention
Hyde Park Art Center 80th Anniversary Gala, Chicago, IL-November 22, 2019
Designed adult themed play-doh card game for a fun hands-on sculpture making interaction for groups of 10 gala donors around a single seated table, display and critique followed
Tactical Viewing
Curator and collaborator, Chicago Police Department 24th District Station, Chicago, IL- May-June 2017
Identified need for therapeutic arts intervention for police officers who often encounter violence on the job. Worked with commander to realize exhibition of works, installed historical photographs provided by Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society, studio visits with Chicago artists, open call promotion John-Michael Korpal, included officer artwork, created layout for entire station exhibition, installed artwork with union workers, held artist talk during opening, created catalog essay, de-installed. Artists included: Karen I. Hirsch, Serene Wise, Marcelo Eli, Jazmin Dua, Jessica Lucas, Marc Debose, Kunal Sen, Katherine Lampert, Frederick Nitsch
Jewel Box
Curator
Special Project for Hyde Park Art Center, stARTup Fair CHI, MileNorth Hotel, Chicago, IL 2016
Created open call installed in the bathroom.
Artists included: Mara Baker, Jaclyn Jacunski, Kunal Sen, Samantha Hill, Rami George, Seeds in Service (Maggie Puckett & Melissa Potter), and Lynn Neuman
Taking Shapes
Co-Curator
Hyde Park Art Center, Gallery 2 and building façade, August 2016
Scheduled studio visits with Katherine Lampert to create an artwork on the two-story facade of the building, Seeds In Service (Maggie Puckett & Melissa Potter) exhibited large handmade paper artwork and planted a radical feminist seed garden in an outdoor disused kiln. Wrote catalog essay with collaborative input from cohort.
Trail Art: Site as Studio
Curator and collaborator
Trailside Museum of Natural History, River Forest, IL- June 2016
Curatorial vision inspired by reading Mary Jane Jacobs & Michelle Grabner’s The Studio Reader: On the Space of Artists. Worked with Cook County Forest Preserves to realize vision to have art along the trail. Artists included: Regin Igloria, Katherine Lampert, myself, Peter Meckerman, Steve Juras and Others.
A Surprise in the Process
Co-Curator with Katherine Lampert
Chicago Art Department, Chicago, IL- March 2016
Identified artists from the Center Program IV class to participate in this group show whose theme was accidental beauty found in thru the creative process. Artists included: Mara Baker, Regin Igloria, Katherine Lampert, Carlos Matallana, Rami George, Lily Dithrich, Dana Major, Julian E. Williams Jr, Kunal Sen, Erin Toale, myself.
Selected Group Exhibitions:
Partition in the Modern World
Curated by Partika Chowdhry
Evanston Art Center
2023
Color/Form
Curated by Ann Rintz
CSI Group Exhibition
College of Lake County
2023
Intersection, curated by Chris Wubbena
Juried Group Show with Chicago Sculpture International
Artwork shown, Articulation of Form PrismaGrid Sketches
CSI Project Space, 1912 North Damen, Chicago IL January- March 2023
Responding to Rhythms, curated by Nathan Peck
Juried Group Show with Chicago Sculpture International
Artwork shown, bellwether
Beverly Art Center, 2407 W 111th Street, Chicago, IL November 11-December 1, 2022
Art-In-Place 2022, curated by Courtney Lederer for CNL Projects
Artwork created, Liminal Space
The work was installed in front of my home in Chicago from August-October 2022
Zen, curated by Beth Swanson for Rostrum 312
Artwork shown, bellwether
Studio 41, 225 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654 June-August 2022
AWARDS
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Individual Artist Grant Winner 2023-2024
Panelist DCASE 2024-Visual Arts
Comfort Station-Top 100 artist list inductee for Modern Monument installation 2023
Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency, Longform Residency, Saugatuck, MI, 2021 Scholarship Waitlisted
Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Project Grant Recipient, March 2019 Winner
Kickstarter campaign for Mama’s Hand at Polsky Center March 2019 Funded Project
Artwork chosen for Hyde Park Art Center Gala 2015 After Party flier and invitation, October 2015, Artistic Distinction
IAP Professional Development Grant, City of Chicago, DCASE, January 2015, Winner
Tully’s Coffee “Gathering Grounds” community building artist search, May 2013, National Finalist
IAS Individual Artist Professional Development Grant, Illinois Arts Council, 2012, Winner
Senior Vice President of Strategy Regional Operations United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, 2010-2011, Protégé
“History of Photography” college essays chosen for future coursework by professor, OCC, 2011, Special Recognition
Minneapolis College of Art & Design Painting Merit Scholarship 1997, Winner
Foundation Program Poster Design, Minneapolis College of Art & Design, 1995, Winner
Girls Club Scholarship for Excellence in the Arts, New Trier High School, 1994, Winner
Nelson Mandela signed chair, Celebrity Chair Auction, Chicago, IL 1993 Artist
Principal’s Award, Junior Book Award for Excellence & Leadership, New Trier High, 1993, Winner
New Artists’ Category, Glencoe Summer Art Fair, 1993, Third Place
Visual Arts Recipient, Illinois Summer School for the Arts, University of Illinois at Normal, 1992, Merit Scholarship
TEACHING, COMMUNITY PROJECTS, LEADERSHIP, RESIDENCY
Co-Founder, Mentorship Program for AALANA Chicago Outdoor Public Sculpture through CSI with Janet Austin 2023
Teaching Artist January 2023, "Wooden Ships", Lathrop Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, created and taught workshop in sculpture with painted wooden planes in person to 20 8-10 year old inner city youth as member of Chicago Sculpture International.
Teaching Artist September 2022, “Wooden Ships”, Arts of Life, created and taught workshop in sculpture with painted wooden planes in person and via zoom to Arts of Life artists as member of Chicago Sculpture International.
Board Member -Membership Chair, Chicago Sculpture International, September 2022-2025
Kara Cobb Johnson PR Projects, Katherine Lampert’s solo exhibition “Pattern in Nature” at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, January-April 2022.
Lead Artist 2018, volunteer, I Like Your Smile, silent auction collaborative artwork featuring spin art by 50 Kindergarten students, Wildwood IB World Magnet School, North Edgebrook, Chicago, IL.
Community Organizer, 2017 Training Session on Human Rights in the Trump Era, People Power: ACLU Chicago, Televised session aired in my home for interested community members.
Lead Panelist 2016, stART to Finish, Conversations series September 25th, stARTup Fair CHI 2016 MileNorth Hotel
Teacher, June 14, 2015, Art in Nature: Vista Watercolor, Free Class for Painters of all ages, Crabtree Nature Center Barrington IL
Resident Artist, April 2015, Session 5 (deferred), Ragdale Artists’ Colony, Lake Forest IL
Fundraiser, March 2014-2018, Co-Founder, “TJ Trot” for Menkes Awareness, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL
Collaborator, January 2015, Public Artist, The Lumen Project, with Artist Serene Wise: to illuminate underpasses in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL.
Artist, November 18, 2014 conversation with Michelle Grabner, Lunch with an Artist sponsored by Lettuce Entertain You restaurants opportunity granted by DCASE, Chicago Artists Month 2014
Founder, November 2014, Founder of Casey Nesbitt Friendship Scholarship, New Trier High School, annual $1000 scholarship award for a graduating senior who possesses a love of the outdoors, skiing, friendship, and athletics
Mentor, August 4-8, 2014, Artist Mentor in Painting, Edgebrook Metra Underpass for After School Matters teen apprentices
Organizer, May 18, 2014 Artist Curator “Chicago Public Library-Edgebrook Day at Chicago Botanical Gardens Lenhardt Library” Rare Books Collection
Artist, April, 2014, Deferred, Ragdale Artists Colony, Summer Residency, Lake Forest, IL
Teacher, February 1, 2014 National Freedom Day “Freedom Watercolors” Class, Crabtree Nature Center Barrington IL
Civic Leader, Jan-April 2014 Secretary, Board of Directors, North Edgebrook Civic Association, North Edgebrook, IL.
Resident, June-August 2013, Ragdale Artist Colony Special Summer Painting Residency for Professional Development.
Attendee, June 24, 2013, “One State”, Arts Alliance Illinois.
Artist, Summer 2013, summer 2014, summer 2015, “Neighborhood Connection Project”, Design Team Lead Artist for Edgebrook Underpass bricolage mural in collaboration with Green Star Movement and After School Matters.
2012-Community Actions Leader and Grant Writer, created Slideshow, essay, collected first major donation from 41st ward Alderman for The Neighborhood Connection Project Initiative, Edgebrook, IL.
2008-2011 -Volunteered for Children’s Charity, collected books, enhanced projects, coordinated special events.
2005-2008 -Traveled, lived and photographed Countryside of Oxfordshire, UK. Photographed and studied works at museums in Italy, Switzerland, Amsterdam, France, Spain, England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.
2003-2005 -Lived in Denver and experienced the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.