55 Millennium - Twenty-third Edition ARTS, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT Karen F. Santry is an acclaimed artist, writer and educator who served at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) for four decades, from 1980 until her retirement in 2020. During her longstanding tenure, Ms. Santry served as a professor of art in the illustration department, where she instructed student artists and inspired them to pursue excellence in their respective media, particularly within the notoriously competitive New York art scene. Now retired from academia, Ms. Santry recently completed a series of 19 Kabuki paintings, which she aims to exhibit in galleries or sell in the near future. She is also collaborating with a writing coach to create a book detailing her early adventures in South Norwalk, a vibrant, artistic Connecticut town that Ms. Santry helped name “SoNo” in 1975. Recognized for her achievement in 1984, Ms. Santry was honored with a plaque from the Arts Council of Norwalk for her commitment to attracting creatives to the Washington Street and Wall Street areas. Today, SoNo is a thriving arts center with new art additions and boutique businesses, with the SoNo Collection on 100 Water Street providing 20 artists with studios to exhibit their work. Ms. Santry’s book, titled “Making Up SoNo,” is forthcoming. Earlier in her career, Ms. Santry co-founded High Tech Ties with an FIT student, Cynthia Martinez, designing bow ties using innovative materials and selling them at the Guggenheim, Whitney and New Museums, as well as through an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. She also spent three summers painting scenery at the Atlas Scenic Studios and taught at the Silvermine Guild of Art and Yale University. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College and a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania. During her graduate-level studies, Ms. Santry painted the famous David Bowie and experienced her first art sales with the assistance of Mick Jagger. Ms. Santry is proud to have sold her artwork through the prestigious Allan Stone Gallery in New York City. She is also one of five women who established the Fashion Art Bank in the 1990s. KAREN F. SANTRY, BS, MFA PROFESSOR OF ART (RETIRED) Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY Millennium Magazine Featured Listee
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQ5NDA2