3 Square Art
is the place for the Arts
in Northern Colorado
3 Square Art Member Jurors
Kumiko McKee
(2017 - Present)
Kumiko S. McKee is the Co-Founder/Owner of the 3 Square Art and Gallery Director/ Curator. She is an Award-Winning Artist creating large oil paintings of Japanese-themed historical subjects as well as extremely detailed portrait drawings in large scale format revealing the true spirit of her subjects. She started formal Atelier-style academic training in Japan. She received a BFA in painting from the University of Wyoming. She has received prestigious awards in National and International Competitions and Juried Exhibitions including the International ARC Salon Competition (15th ARC Salon). Her work has been featured in Sotheby’s NY and European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Spain. Her artwork has selected for one of the 28 artworks for the “Contemporary Realism: Important 21st Century Work” auction at Sotheby's in 2021. Featured in The Top Award-Winning Drawings of 2020 (Artists Network).
Craig McKee
(2017 - Present)
Craig McKee is the Co-Founder/Owner of the 3 Square Art and an Artist, Teacher, Graphic Designer, Entrepreneur
He received a BFA with magna cum laude honors from Kenyon College in Ohio.
Patricia Schmidtmann
(2022 - 2023)
Patricia Schmidtmann is a Former Professor at The University of Wyoming, American University, Prince George's Community College, and Montgomery College. She has 23 years teaching experiences in Drawing, Painting, Landscape Painting, 2D Design, and Color Theory Classes.
Amanda Gress
(2020 - 2023)
Amanda Gress is a contemporary figurative artist working in Colorado. She received a BFA in 2005 and MFA in 2008 from Laguna College of Art and Design in California. Her classical training in both drawing and painting are rooted in historical techniques covering several mediums. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected throughout the western U.S. She has also taught art privately and academically for the past 15 years.
She has received Gold Award in “Figure That 2019” and Silver Award in “Figure That 2018”and “100 Square Inches of Art 2018” in 3 Square Art Juried Exhibitions.
Felipe Echevarria
(2023)
Felipe Echevarria has over 30 years experience in the fine arts, and comics and graphic novels. He has liberated hundreds of artists from their color-mixing problems with the Bias Color Wheel System.
Former Member Jurors in 2021-2022
Jim Benest
(2021 - 2022)
Jim Benest is Abstract Artist and Photographer.
Over the years, Jim's love of photographing landscapes and florals led him to travel to South America, Italy and the American Southwest. From 2004 to 2009, Jim opened and managed his own gallery, The Collective Fine Art Gallery in the Historic Old Town District of Fort Collins, Colorado.
He has received Silver Award in “NOOBAA: Non-Objective Abstract Art 2019” in 3 Square Art Juried Exhibitions.
Guest Jurors
David Reif
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Wyoming
David Reif is recipient of a National Endowment "Emerging Artist" Grant, the Pardee Award for Excellence in Sculpture at Yale University and "Best Sculpture" award at the "Joslyn Biennial" exhibition in Omaha. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago and universities throughout the country.
Juried:
Ricki Klages
Head of the Department of Art and Professor at the University of Wyoming
Ricki Klages was born in Stuttgart, Germany. She received her BFA from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and her MA and MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally and has received many awards in Juried exhibitions.
Juried:
Mary Jane Edwards
Executive Director of the Jentel Foundation in Banner, Wyoming
Mary Jane Edwards is the former department head and Professor of Art at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. She supported arts and advocacy organizations such as the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, the American Craft Council, the National Association of Arts Administrators and the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression.
Juried:
Christophe Vacher
Christophe Vacher is a two-time Emmy Award Winner and two-time Annie Award Nominee who has provided artwork for the Animation industry and most major Hollywood Studios. Originally from France, he relocated to California in 1996, where he worked for Walt Disney Pictures, Dreamworks, Universal Studios, Focus Features and Hasbro, among others.
Juried:
Lisa Hatchadoorian
Lisa Hatchadoorian is currently the Executive Director of the Museum of Art Fort Collins. She is responsible for the strategic direction of the museum, budget, fundraising, staffing, donor, member and sponsor cultivation, and the artistic direction of programming. She received a B.A. in Art History and Music from the University of Virginia and an MA in Curatorial Studies of Contemporary Art from Bard College, NY. She has over 20 years experience in arts administration, curating, grant writing, organizing public art projects and fundraising and her experience has ranged from the corporate to academic, municipal and non-profit venues. She has been a visiting lecturer at CSU (Osher Institute) in Fort Collins, CO, Casper College, Casper, WY and has taught art appreciation at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ and Casper College, Casper, WY.
Juried:
Martin John Garhart
Emeritus Professor of Art Kenyon College, Ohio.
Martin John Garhart has worked as an artist/teacher, teaching, making, and showing his images over the last forty years. His works reside in over forty institutions including the British Museum, Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institute, as well as numerous private collections. He is a Professor of Art Emeritus from Kenyon College, in Gambier, OH where he taught Studio Art for thirty one years.
After thirty one years of teaching drawing he has written a book “Learning to Draw - Drawing to Learn” (published in 2016) on drawing. It is a book that speaks to learning and how the visual vocabulary of drawing can become a tool for that effort. It is a complete curriculum and with the desire and discipline one will learn to draw and to use drawing as a tool for thought. The book is available online through outskirtspress.com, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.
Juried:
Lynn Thorpe
Emeritus Professor of Art Northwest College.
University studies took her to the University of Washington in Seattle (BA 1968); to the Canberra School of Art, Canberra, A.C.T. Australia (1975-1977); and the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (2nd BA and MFA 1983). Non-toxic Printmaking studies took her to the Canadian institute of Non-Toxic Printmaking in 1994 and 1997. While on the faculty of Northwest College in Powell,WY, from 1984 to 2004, she taught courses in Design 2D, Color Theory, Printmaking, Drawing and Painting. At Black Hills State University, Spearfish,SD, she taught Drawing, Design2D, and Art History as an adjunct faculty, 2005-2011. She has been listed a number of times in Who's Who Among America's Teachers; and received a NISOD nomination for outstanding teaching in 2004.
Juried:
Bob Coonts
In 1963 Bob Coonts earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in graphic design and painting from Colorado State University in Fort Coillins, CO, where he also served as affiliate faculty from 1971 to 2003. To enrich his years of experience and previous education, Coonts steeped himself in workshops, seminars and classes during the 1990's. In 1994, following 31 successful years in graphic design and illustration, Coonts launched his fineart career. He paints, sculps and dreams in his home studio north of Ft. Collins where he and his wife Sallie live near a lake with a view of the magnificent Rocky Mountains.
Juried:
Gary Hixon
Gary Hixon is an emeritus board member for the Museum of Contemporary Art and the producer of ArtWear, a juried, one-of-a-kind wearable art fashion show and sale that benefits the Lincoln Center's visual arts program. Currently, Gary designs unique jewelry and coordinates art showings.
Retiring from interior design after 34 years, Gary Hixon began making jewelry in 2008, opening Gary Hixon Designs. Gary's ingenuity, stability, and attention to detail were his trademarks when he designed homes and those same qualities are evident in his jewelry. Gary has lived in Fort Collins since 1966 and is a passionate advocate for arts and education in the community.
Juried: