MAYOR MANZI NAMES KATE ZEHNTER AS NOVEMBER’S ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Methuen Artist’s Work on Display in the Mayor’s Office

Mayor William M. Manzi has named Kate Zehnter as November’s Artist of the Month. Kate has been an art educator and visual artist since graduating from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA. The hard-edge oil narrative paintings with complimentary colors that emerged after attending college have been transformed since then into soft translucent multilayered acrylic paintings that represent light, passage of time and space. Examples of her new painting style with translucent images that appear and disappear as the viewer moves, are on display in the Mayor’s office at the Searles Building.

Kate has always been passionate about the importance of art and uses her teaching and artistic skills to teach Color and Design at Northern Essex Community College. The desire to make art has always been an important part of her life. In the 1980s, she concentrated her creative energy in fiber art specifically a joining technique known as Twining. Her one-person show of wearable art at the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA was a success. However, the desire to paint was ever present and while she continued to explore other mediums she always returned to her first art passion painting.

The Kate’s Imagery art web site http://www.katesimagery.com showcases all her mediums and artistic skills. On this web site one will see mini-tapestries, which push the boundaries of accepted crewelwork using thread as her paint to create a unique narrative image of scenes from her experiences while traveling.

“In my artwork, I let intuition and risk-taking lead me toward completion. At this point in time it becomes a visual record of my life at that moment. This fact, however, is often only obvious to me in retrospect. Since retiring from being a full-time high school art educator at Timberlane Regional HS, Plaistow, NH in 2008, it has been a delight to be a full time visual artist,” says Zehnter.

Mayor Manzi stated, “Kate is one of the many talented artists living in our community. It is an honor to display her cutting edge artwork. I encourage people to come to my office and view her colorful paintings.”

The Methuen Artist of the Month Program was created by Mayor Manzi three years ago in order to give members of the Methuen Arts Community a forum to display their work and to encourage participation in Methuen’s growing creative economy. Methuen artists interested in being considered for Artist of the Month should contact the Mayor’s Office.