Kate Hartley
Kate Hartley has been painting and teaching art for over forty years. Her own artwork centers on still life painting in watercolors, though she enjoys creating all kinds of art – mosaics, pottery, drawing, and is known for creating the North Creek Mosaic Project Mural, on Main Street. Light (and often pears!) fill her paintings, which have won many awards over the years. See her paintings and mosaics in person at her gallery, H’ART Studio & Gallery in North Creek, NY.
Fifteen years ago, she added mosaics to her list of endeavors, as a vehicle for combining art and teaching. Over 2000 people have joined her in adding elements to a huge community mural: the North Creek Mosaic Project (look for it on Facebook, or www.visitnorthcreek.com). Kate says, “When I first saw the retaining walls along North Creek’s Main Street, I recognized a blank canvas of such a grand scale… and eventually, I was determined to write a grant for a mural. The only medium that would adhere to the walls was mosaic, and so, the North Creek Mosaic Project was born! Many years of work followed, with multiple grants, workshops, classes and teaching thousands of volunteers. The mural was finally completed in the summer of 2024, when my small crew applied the final grout! I worked nearly every nice day, for 10 years, on sticking tile in painterly ‘brushstrokes’ to create a scene of the nature and recreation of our area. It’s surely my legacy, and largest creative achievement so far!”
In teaching, Kate strives to connect on a one-to-one basis, establishing a student’s needs in their own creative endeavors. “My role as a teacher is to help students progress toward their own goals as artists, developing their unique styles and statements.” In her classes, short group lessons are followed by individual instruction.
Thematic teaching – integrating information about nature, world cultures and other art disciplines into visual art lessons – has become her passion. She encourages students to approach their visual art expressions from many angles, enriching the creative experience for student, teacher and art viewer alike.
Kate currently teaches through H’ART Studio & Gallery, Queensbury Senior Center, the Johnsburg Youth Committee, and now the Adirondack Folk School!
Kate received a B.A. in Art Studio from SUNY Plattsburgh, in 1985. She was certified for N-12 art in Vermont, and in Arizona, where she taught and studied in the Navajo Nation for two years. She ran a successful art school for all ages, “Artspace” in Burlington, VT, before relocating to the beautiful Adirondacks in 2002.
Kate is just beginning her connection with the Adirondack Folk School, after being impressed by the AFS instructors’ exhibits in Tannery Pond Center, N. Creek, and being invited to submit class proposals for 2025. She’ll be offering unique creative opportunities in both mosaic and watercolors this year!
