Katie Holten facts for kids

Katie Holten is a modern Irish artist. Her artwork helps us think about how people affect nature. She creates art that makes us consider our planet.

Katie Holten's Art Career

Katie Holten was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1975. Her mother was a gardener and a floral artist. Katie studied art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She finished her studies there in 1998.

In 2002, Katie won the AIB art awards. She received €20,000 for her amazing work. The next year, in 2003, she was chosen to represent Ireland. This was at the 50th Venice Biennale, a very important art show. In 2004, she received a Fulbright Scholarship. This scholarship helped her develop her art skills in New York.

What Kind of Art Does Katie Holten Make?

Katie Holten's art often uses recycled materials. She likes to include maps, plants, and other things from nature. Her art makes people talk about important topics. These topics include biodiversity (all the different kinds of life on Earth) and global warming (the Earth getting hotter).

Drawing and Its Many Forms

Drawing is a very important part of Katie's art. She loves to turn flat drawings into 3D artworks. Katie believes drawing can be many things. She says it's "lines created on a page, in space, on screen, on a wall." She also thinks drawing can happen "through walking, flying, talking." She uses materials like "graphite, ink, sand, stones, wind, sound, ether, time." For Katie, drawing is a way to show what is real, what might be real, or what could be real. Sometimes, even the shadows her art makes are part of the artwork.

The "Tree Museum" Project

In 2007, Katie Holten created a special public art project. It was called "Tree Museum." She made it for The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Wave Hill, and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. This project celebrated 100 years of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, New York.

For "Tree Museum," Katie marked 100 trees along the Grand Concourse. This road is about four and a half miles long. Each tree had a sign with a phone number and a code. People could call the number and listen to short recordings. These recordings featured people talking about the Bronx, their lives, and their work. It was a unique way to connect art, nature, and community stories.

Where Has Katie Holten's Art Been Shown?

Katie Holten's art has been shown in many places around the world. She has had solo exhibitions, meaning only her art was shown. She has also been part of group shows with other artists.

Some of her notable exhibitions include:

• 2013: "Uprooted" at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia, US.
• 2012: "Drawn to the Edge" at New Orleans Museum of Art, US. Also "Light and Landscape" at Storm King Art Center, New York.
• 2010: "The Golden Bough" at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Ireland.
• 2009: "Green Platform" at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy.
• 2008: "ATLAS of MEMORY" at Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, US.
• 2007: Solo shows at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, US, and VAN HORN, Germany.
• 2006: Exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, US, and KBH Kunsthal, Denmark.
• 2003: The Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Italy.

Katie Holten continues to create art that makes us think about our world and our place in it.