Karen Tate is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Kentucky in December of 2014. She is currently attending the University of Oregon for a graduate degree in Arts Management with a specialization in Community Arts Management.
Karen was raised by professional musicians in Louisville, Kentucky, and participated in a wide range of arts throughout her life including dance, symphonic and marching band, youth orchestra, chorus, and visual arts. She became interested in architecture through a love of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Sims games, and attended the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts in the summer of 2010 for Architecture.
During her time at the University of Kentucky, Karen became involved with a student-run non-profit in Lexington called the Beaux Arts Foundation. The Beaux Arts Foundation specifically supports community arts collaborations including music, installations, fashion, and the visual arts to produce an annual event that fundraises for local charities. This sparked her interest in Arts Management after serving one year as the Director of Public Relations, and one year as the Director of Music.
This past summer, Karen worked for the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts program as a teaching assistant for the architecture department. During these 4 weeks, she realized that anywhere and everywhere can be a platform for teaching, performing, and interacting with the arts. Intersections across the art forms produce the most exhilarating results, especially when inserted into public spaces in which the urban framework and pedestrians become activated within the performance itself.
Karen looks forward to marrying her performing arts background with her architectural perspective to conceptualize and eventually fabricate arts environments that cultivate local talent and community to administer projects that take risks and provoke further involvement and enthusiasm. Her interests include DIY performance spaces within the public and private sectors, seeking and supporting local musicians within the underground electronic scene, and generating ideas for cross-disciplinary community arts projects.