Best Visual Artist: Katie Green

Captured by Neil Zeller

Katie Green is one of Calgary’s most accomplished contemporary visual artists exploring a multifaceted approach to her work. She creates intricate watercolours on paper, she makes large-scale mural installations, and she is a mask/puppet fabricator. Born and raised in Calgary and graduating with distinction from the University of Calgary’s BFA Program, Katie’s has taken her work out of the studio and into the public executing murals in Canada, the United States, India, Taiwan, and Germany. Much of Katie's work is collaborative, with community participation integral to its creation. By working in public, Katie’s murals alter the physical, emotional, and imagined landscape of a specific community. Through this work, she demonstrates a deeper understanding of how artistic practice integrates into spaces where there is a shared viewership. 

Today, Katie Green continues to focus on a combination of drawings, masks, murals and paintings. Her mural work in particular can be seen in a number of different locations including, cSPACE King Edward, The Calgary Drop-In and Rehabilitation Centre, on 10ave and 12street SW for the Beltline Urban Mural Project, the Bowness Public Library, and the University of Calgary’s Art Department. Since 2017 Katie has been working with the locally and internationally renowned Old Trout Puppet Workshop as a puppet fabricator. Katie has participated in multiple residencies including the Santa Fe Art Institute and the Vermont Studio Centre. In 2013 she participated in a 21-day residency titled The Peel Project where her and five other artists canoed the peel river in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. To view more of Katie’s work you can check out her official website and Instagram. Stay tuned for her next big installation along the East Village riverwalk this summer!

FIRST RUNNER UP: MANDY STOBO

SECOND RUNNER UP: BRIANNA STRONG