Karen Lockert

Karen Lockert

[email protected]

Biography 2012

Karen Lockert was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1942, but lived in Hollywood for most of her life, before moving to Northern California. She received her B.A. in Art from California State University in Los Angeles, after attending Los Angeles City College and Long Beach State College (now California State University at Long Beach) in the 1960's.

She went on to earn teaching credentials in Art and English in 1979, which led to a successful 25-year teaching career in the Los Angeles Unified School District, working in high school English and Art classrooms. She also led the Drill Team, and became an administrator of a Math, Science and Technology Magnet program within the school before returning to the Art classroom until her official retirement in 2005.

One accomplishment during her teaching career was creating an off-campus art gallery where her students could display their work in a professional environment.

At the present time, Karen is working full-time as an independent artist in beautiful Sonoma County, California, in the heart of Wine Country. As an artist, Karen has participated in many fairs and festivals in the Russian River Area, including Grapes to Glass, the Rio Nido Art Festival, Art in the Park (Armstrong Woods) and the annual "Art@ the Source Open Studios Tour". She has also been instrumental in starting the 1st Friday Art Walk in Guerneville, "the HeArt of the Russian River," and is currently showing at Ono'z Café, Sonoma Nesting Company, and the Russian River Art Gallery.

During the past year, Karen, as a member of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce Board, has helped grow the 1st Friday Art Walk, and she has been actively promoting the work of local artists of the River and West County through Art @ the Source. One of her goals is to encourage Guerneville merchants to make themselves available to artists, by sharing opportunities to see and be seen in our local businesses.

Currently, Karen is working on a new series of two-and-three-dimensional mixed media paintings (which are moving toward abstraction) based on her own quirky vision of local scenes, including the homes and storefronts along the Russian River Valley, and of the River itself.