Karen Fitzgerald was born and raised on a family farm in central Wisconsin. She graduated with honors obtaining a B.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in 1979. Two years later she relocated to NYC. Hunter College awarded her a M.F.A. in 1985, also with honors. In 1990, Teachers College, Columbia University awarded her a M.Ed.
Her work has been widely exhibited in the United States. Private galleries in New York City and Huntington, NY promote and sell her work. The Queens Museum of Art, Islip Art Museum, Rahr-West Museum, Madison Art Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum and the United Nations in NYC have featured her work in their active exhibition schedules.
In 1980 she had her first solo exhibition at Sight 225, an artist’s cooperative gallery in Milwaukee. Most recently, Shifting Coastlines, a collaboration with composer Charles Griffin premiered with the Goliard Ensemble in Queens, NY. The Durst Organization sponsored Orbs in 2000. Curated by L. L. Powers, it featured 25 paintings at 1133 Avenue of the Americas in NYC. Six other solo exhibits have taken place in the New York City area including at the Westchester Art Center, Sunnen Gallery in Soho, NY, and the Interchurch Center in upper Manhattan. In 1999, the Center for Visual Art in Wausau, Wisconsin presented Gardens of Light, a solo show. Since 1980, five two-person exhibits have featured her work. The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design presented Into Light, which Karen curated, in 1997. The University of Arizon at Tucson, Alpan gallery of Huntington, NY, John Jay College Gallery (NYC) and Carrol College Union Gallery (WI) have presented her work in two-person shows.
In 2003, CITYarts commissioned Karen to create a 28’ x 56’ mural in Whitestone, Queens In 1999, the Greenwall Foundation funded Shifting Coastlines, for which she was commissioned to create six 60" tondo works. McClancy Memorial High School as well as the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning have commissioned work from her. She received an Individual Artist’s Award from the Queens Community Arts Fund in 2000 and in 1998. The Women’s Studio Workshop awarded her an individual artist’s fellowship in 1999. AT&T awarded her an Artsline Award to assist in marketing her work during 1998. Publications as diverse as the New York Times, Newsday, The Arizona Daily Star; Calyx and Central Park magazine have featured her work in reviews and artist’s projects. Her work is in the Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Union Gas collection, the Rienhart Collection of Germany and many other public and private collections.
Karen lives with her three sons and husband in Woodside, NY. Her studio is located in Long Island City.
