Daily Inspiration: Meet Katherine Reed

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Reed.

Hi Katherine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am an independent artist and Colorado state licensed art therapist. Becoming an artist has been a lifelong journey; though I realize now that I have always been at my core. I moved to Colorado for college at CU Boulder at age 17, leaving my hometown of Nashville, TN. I became an art teacher with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, so that I could be sure to have a job…a strong concern of my Mom who had worked with hard-working and struggling artists her entire professional career as a gallery manager. I taught art in Boulder and Jefferson County schools for about 8 years, mostly discouraged by the limits of the public school system and the necessity of giving students grades for their expressions. I then moved to Burkina Faso, West Africa to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1999. Those 2+ years truly changed everything for me, as I not only found the key to curing my own depression…I also discovered the almost magical ability of art to change lives and communities. I worked with a local theater troupe to perform their original stories of HIV education, watching villagers laugh when the wooden penis came out and was covered with a condom. An entire society that had forbidden talk of sex was able to shift its consciousness through laughter and play, learning the facts of HIV transmission, which empowered doctors and health workers to truly help curb the spread of AIDS. Coming home to the States, I searched for a way to harness the power of the arts to change lives, and found art therapy. I got a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago, and earned a Masters in Art Therapy. I then moved back to Colorado for a dream job running the new Creative Arts Therapy program at Children’s Hospital. Building that program was the chance of a lifetime, hiring and supporting experts in music, art, drama, yoga, and dance/ movement therapy. In June of 2025, I completed 20 years as Manager, and left my dream job…only to honor my lifelong dream of building my own professional career as an artist. So that brings us up to date. I now have a website, a daily practice of artmaking, and a plan to continue building my business…both as an artist and an art therapist working to help populations of helpers heal their own burnout and reclaim their creativity through the arts.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Self-doubt has probably been my biggest challenge, throughout my life. Earning a living is such a central focus in American life, which almost drowns out any other goal. Moving through so many ways of being an artist in the world…there have been days of despair for sure…years of undervaluing my gift…and the frustration of working with people, esp in the Western medical world, who don’t often comprehend the life-affirming need to make art.
I also didn’t even mention my personal/ family life…but that has been another focus for me. I always wanted to be a Mom…and I married my lead actor in the village theater troupe actually…9 years after leaving Burkina Faso. He brought his 4-year old daughter to Denver to marry me. I have been raising her ever since. Our friendship outlasted the marriage; and he is back in the village after our divorce. The challenges of navigating cultural differences, American racism and classism, and parenting styles were huge. I wouldn’t change a thing, however, now. Our daugher is a thriving 17-year-old herself, a junior in High School who goes to visit Dad in the village every summer, and moving forward in her own big life full of choices.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have always loved drawing and painting the figure, which was the focus of my Bachelors in Fine Art. I have moved through many forms of expression, including making books, silkscreen, photography, ceramics…however, in the last couple of years, I picked up embroidery as a legacy from my maternal French great-grandmother. I now incorporate embroidery into my paintings and book covers, as I continue to evolve my practice.

For me, being an artist and making art is not only core to my identity; it also shapes the way I understand my place in the universe. Art is a bridge between realms, crossing cultures and also consciousness and realms of existence. I work closely with a group of fellow artists to study this bridge through time, place, and temples around the world.

I have also been working with a research team called CORAL, the Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab, since 2019. We are a group of multi-disciplinary professionals who study the efficacy of creative arts therapy as a healing and preventive intervention for symptoms of burnout, depression, anxiety, and PTSD amongst health care professionals. Our 10 cohorts of over 500 participants so far have yielded promising results, and we continue to study sub-groups with hospitals. We hope to secure more funding opportunities to expand the research to other helping populations. It is a deep conviction of mine to help others benefit from the creative endeavors that give my life so much purpose and meaning.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Mentors are so important. I have had many wonderful mentors, both professionally and personally. The key for me has been: never be afraid to ask someone you respect or admire for mentorship. Often, they will be flattered. Other times, if it doesn’t work out, it wasn’t meant to be. Both have happened for me…and I am grateful for every ounce of courage it took to make it happen.

Networking needs to feel natural. When I am feeling most at home at a festival, telling stories about artwork I’ve made to potential buyers who are curious, my networking is the most successful. I’ve learned that the story of its coming to be might be the most important factor in an artwork’s successful sale.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://katherinereedstudios.com
• Instagram: katherinereedstudios
• Facebook: katherinereedstudios