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The Alma Community Art Center would like to present Kathy Haffey as our featured artist for the month of May. Kathy’s family moved back to Alma when she was five years old. Her father had been raised here and many family members were still in the area which gave Kathy’s family an extended family circle. She attended St. Mary’s elementary school before attending public school and graduating in 1973. All kinds of arts, choir, dance, band, and art, were always included in the school curriculum from the earliest grades. The children’s show, “Captain Kangaroo,” always featured an art project and inspired Kathy to race through the house gathering up materials and hurrying back in front of the TV to follow along and complete the project. She never remembers not being able to express herself and loving it.
High school was the first time art classes were actually offered and she loved them. There was no formal curriculum but there were plenty of opportunities to explore drawing, pen and ink, leather work, and many other art projects. When she was in college she continued taking art classes. She loved life drawing, pottery studio, and print making. In her early teaching career she taught both English and Art but found little time to continue her own art for many years. Kathy found that you never lose your love for the creative process and eventually took some classes at CMU and fell in love with paper making. She spent two spring terms at the biological station on Beaver Island in a full time studio. She spent many afternoons with a friend, pulling paper and typesetting art pieces, cards, and wedding invitations. Her time spent at the biological station on Beaver Island inspired her to create and enter a 30 x 40 waterscape in an open show at CMU and won an award for her entry. It was the only time in many years that she had shown her work. After her retirement, she was fortunate to find the Alma Community Art Center. It inspired her to not only volunteer her time but to begin to do art work again. She enjoys working with people of all ages and with the support of the Art Center, she began a painting class for the residents at Masonic Pathways. Kathy feels that it has been an amazing opportunity to watch the participants light up as they work a painting. Art is for everyone, all ages, and can bring enjoyment to those who create, those who teach it, and those who view it. |
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