Kathleen Vance

Ulster County Habitat for Humanity ReStore presents Kathleen Vance's "Traveling Landscapes -Rondout Creek and Hudson River"  a sculptural installation inspired by the Rondout Creek and the Hudson River, utilizing cases sourced from the Ulster County Habitat for Humanity Restore. 

Kathleen Vance re-envisions the Rondout Creek and Hudson River in miniature, creating handsculpted waterscapes, positioned inside vintage luggage.  The installation replicates the flow of the Rondout creek with moving water, sculpturally depicting the water's path from the upper reservoir to the Hudson River.  Multiple cases are presented stacked, with their lids partially open to entice viewers to explore and discover the landscapes held within, following the water paths from one case to the next. Each contained waterscape references a specific section of the Rondout Creek, created with soil collections from selected sites along the Rondout Creek and the Hudson River.

This project was funded by Arts Mid-Hudson and organized in conjunction with Ulster County Habitat for Humanity ReStore, to present and discuss ideas of recycling, the history of objects, the local environment, and the history of these waterways.

Kathleen Vance is an environmental artist who creates sculptures and installations that connect people to local aspects of nature that are overlooked or under-appreciated. Inspired by personal experiences in nature, her works incorporate water as main element and explore concepts of site displacement, water and land rights, and the preciousness of nature, with a goal to inspire people to be more conscious of their consumption and to work towards preserving our natural resources

Vance received her B.F.A. from Pratt Institute and her M.F.A. from Hunter College in sculpture. She has received numerous grants and awards for her artwork including: a travel grant to research the geo-thermal regions of Iceland, a grant from the Puffin foundation for public sculpture, and a development grant from Aljira, Center for Contemporary Art in conjunction with the Creative Capital Foundation.  Ms. Vance was artist in resident in Berlin, Germany, presenting a workshop on environmental arts in connection with the Grunewald Parks Department in Germany. 

Her sculptural installations have been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, the Orlando Museum of Art,  the Weatherspoon Art Museum, the Peeler Art Center, the Weisman Art Museum, the Brandywine River Museum of Art, the Bruce Museum, the Ellen Noel Art Museum, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, the Hillwood Art Museum, VOLTA New York,  PULSE New York and Miami, and EXPO Chicago, as well as many private and public institutions.  Kathleen Vance has exhibited extensively in New York and internationally and continues to live and work in Kingston, New York.

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.