Kelly Sheppard Murray
United Arts Council
August - September
Artist Bio/Statement
Kelly Murray has been working as an artist, educator, and designer for more than 20 years. Since 2000, she has taught studio and art appreciation to adult learners of all ages at Wake Technical Community College. By teaching art majors and students with limited knowledge of the arts, Kelly has observed how people interact with and appreciate visual culture. She has supported hundreds of students in finding their own creativity to employ for personal and professional pursuits.
Kelly’s teaching informs her approach to her fine art and design. By working with audiences of varied aesthetic perspectives, Kelly is prepared to find a way to meet a client’s or community’s needs and purposes. For the last 15 years, Kelly has worked with numerous design and fabrication companies to create sculptures, dioramas, small models and murals for nature, science and history centers.
Environmental issues, land development and the relationship of human activity and nature has been a core interest for Kelly throughout her career and the primary focus of much of her personal fine art production. Kelly has been exploring encaustic wax painting for the last 10 years. This passion for molten wax is derived from years casting metal using lost-wax metal casting. Encaustic painting was a natural way to bring her sculptural background and pursuit of painting together because it can easily translate into two or three-dimensional compositions.
Kelly is interested in exploring the ways her experience as an exhibition designer, fabricator, sculptor and painter can be brought together for clients on commercial, public art and fine art projects.