The Art of Jazz: Art Reception & Live Jazz with Kathy Kosins

The Village Arts Factory welcomes local jazz legend and celebrated visual artist Kathy Kosins for a special evening of art, jazz, and conversation! Join us in celebrating the start of Jazz History Month with live jazz music and the opening reception of Kathy’s art gallery exhibit, titled The Art of Jazz, featuring her signature improvisatory paintings on canvas. Generously sponsored by Edward Jones of Cherry Hill Village and Expressions Music Academy, this event will run from 6:00 to 9:00pm at the Village Arts Factory and is free and open to the public. Meet the artist, browse the gallery exhibit, experience the sweet sounds of live jazz, and enjoy a variety of snacks and light refreshments. If you love art and jazz, this event is not to be missed! For more information, please contact us at: kevin.ryan@cantonmi.gov

About the Artist:

Kathy Kosins is an interdisciplinary artist and a master of improvisation. Her art quite literally translates from stage to canvas. She may be best known for her successful career as a critically acclaimed jazz and soul artist, yet all the while Kosins has been quietly gaining ground in the modern art world as well.

“For me, art and music are one in the same,” Kosins says. “There’s no separation and there never has been.” Self-taught as musician, composer and visual artist, Kosins creates abstract acrylic paintings on canvas. A mid-century modern aesthetic has long inspired her work. Cubist and surrealist artists of the 1950s and 1960s inform her technique.

Kosins never studied art or music. Still, she’s made a decades-long career in those fields. “My artwork is total improvisation,” she says. “There is no preconceived composition.” At most, Kosins may choose a color palette ahead of time. She believes in creating art when the moment strikes. That is exactly how she began painting from a live music stage.

Those who have had the opportunity to see Kosins perform – and paint on stage – know it’s a rarity. Kosins often says she “hears color and sees sound,” a condition known as synesthesia. As the band continues to play an impromptu instrumental on stage, she applies color and strokes – each inspired visually by the interpretation of the music. The end result is an abstraction of the music being played.

Kosins is passionate about making art. Enough so that she created a clinic to guide aspiring or professional artists through the process itself. Titled, “Improvisation on Canvas,” Kosins has taught courses to students of all ages – at high schools, performing arts schools, colleges and continuing education courses across the country.

Kosins’ commissioned paintings are held in private collections throughout the US and Europe. To learn more, please click here to visit the artist’s website.