Karlene Jean Kantner is a ceramic artist whose work celebrates the expanding relationship between her body, landscape and gardens. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Art in Ceramics from the University of Montana where she received honors for community arts engagement and teaching. She moved east to make work and teach classes at the Flower City Arts Center in Rochester NY. Firing in both an electric kiln and a woodfired open pit, her work ranges in size and integrates plants with deep sentimentality. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture and has shown at Federal Twist, Art at Kings Oaks and the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. She has collections of work available at Reside in Cambridge MA and Walker Street Market in Lennox, MA. Currently, Karlene lives and works at Bark Mill Pond in the Berkshires where she continues her research in a land and garden based ceramic practice.
Education
2016 | Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics, University of Montana, Missoula MT
Recipient of The School of Art Community Arts & Achievement Award
Residency & Internship
2019 - 2020 | Ceramic Resident, Flower City Arts Center (FCAC), Rochester NY
2014 - 2016 | Internship, Clay Studio of Missoula (CSOM), Missoula MT
Solo Exhibitions
2023 | Volumes, Berkshire Botanical Gardens, Stockbridge MA
2022 | Sisters, Federal Twist Garden, Stockton NJ
2018 | Light and Sound Series, Zootown Arts and Community Center (ZACC), Missoula MT
2017 | Basket Series, Stensrud Gallery, Missoula MT
Group Exhibitions & Collaborations
2026 | I Heard You Looking, Walker St. Market, Lennox, MA
2024 | Art at Kings Oaks, Newtown, PA
2024 | PULP, Holyoke, MA
2024 | Spring in July, Vivian Outlaw Gallery, West Stockbridge, MA
2020 | Momento Gaudium: Sigma Vitae, Flower City Arts Center, Rochester, NY
2020 | Hand to Hand, Flower City Arts Center, Rochester NY
2019 | 29th Annual Members Exhibition, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester NY
2019 | LUSH a Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Lighthouse Art Center, Tequesta, FL
2018 | Woodfired in Montana, The Cultural Confluence Woodfire Symposium, CSOM,
Missoula, MT
2018 | Lovers, The Gallery of Visual Arts, University of Montana, Missoula MT
2018 | 40th Anniversary Retrospective, Brunswick Gallery, Missoula MT
2018, 2017, 2016 | Potsketch, Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula MT
2016 | Community Exhibition, Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula MT
2015 | Creativity, Craft, Community and Change, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore MD
2015 | Funny Bunny Circus, Real Good Art Space, Missoula MT
Teaching Experience
2025 | Workshop: Integrating Clay & Landscape, Lisa Naples Studio, Frenchtown NJ
2024 | Workshop: Embracing Time in the Garden & Studio, co-lead with Jennifer Walker, Art at
Kings Oaks, Newtown PA
2019 - 2020 | Handbuilding Instructor for Youth & Adults, FCAC, Rochester, NY
2020 | Visiting Artist: Art in Our Schools, Bloomfield Elementary School, Bloomfield NY
2014 - 2017 | Youth Art Programming Director, ZACC, Missoula, MT
Relevant Volunteer Experience
2025 - Present | Hospice of the Berkshires, certified to sit vigil at bedside, report well-being and companionship
2018 - 2019 | Soft Landing Missoula, mentorship and transportation to school everyday