Kyoung Ae Cho

Kyoung Ae Cho is a fibers artist who is engaging in a conversation with nature, respectfully incorporating natural elements, recycled matter as well as low-valued materials, mostly which she has gathered. She earned her MFA (1992) from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and her BFA (1986) from Ducksung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea. She moved to Milwaukee in the summer of 1999 when she started to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Cho’s work, a poetic juxtaposition of natural wonder with sensual delight and fragile existence, has been exhibited in national and international venues including Lynden Sculpture Garden Milwaukee, WI; Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI; Muskegon Museum of Art, MI; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, WI; Gregg Museum of Art and Design, Raleigh, NC; Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE; Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ; San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA; Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI; University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO; Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH; Detroit Institute of Arts, MI; Carnegie Art Museum of Oxnard, CA; Deutsches Texrilmuseum Krefeld, GERMANY; Poikilo-museot, Kouvola, FINLAND; Textilemuseum, Tilburg, NETHERLANDS; National Museum of History, Taipei, TAIWAN; Cheongju Craft Museum, Cheongju, SOUTH KOREA; National Museum of Modern Art, Gwacheon, SOUTH KOREA. Cho has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Lillian Elliott Award, the Quilt National Award of Excellence, the Pollock-Krasner Grant, the UWM Foundation and Graduate School Research Award, and Wisconsin Arts Board Award Fellowship. Cho currently lives in Milwaukee and is Professor of Art & Design at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

What energizes you as you consider the future of the arts in Wisconsin?

I’ve been living in Milwaukee 20+ years. Even though there was a down time in Art scene in the past, I feel that Milwaukee is currently pretty active with full of creative energy. Milwaukee, where I live, has a strong art presence with lots of museums and galleries such as Milwaukee Art Museum, Lynden Sculpture Garden, Warehouse Art Museum, Haggerty Museum of Art, Charles Allis Art Museum, Villa Terrace Decorative Art Museum, UWM Emile H. Mathis Art Gallery, UWM Union Art Gallery, UWM KSE Gallery, MIAD Galleries, Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art, Hawthorn Contemporary, Var Galleries, Green Gallery, Jazz Gallery Center for Arts, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, The Alice Wilds, Saint Kate- The Arts Hotel, Tory Folliard Gallery, Lily Pad Gallery, Katie Gingrass Gallery and so on. Also the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin Museum of Quilt and Fiber Arts, Cedarburg Art Museum, JM Kohler Arts Center in the surrounding Wisconsin cities. Also there are number of support programs by Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN), Plum Blossom Initiative, Arts @Large and fellowship program such as Mary L. Nohl Fund Individual Artist Program, gener8tor Art Program. These organizations and programs support and enrich not only artists but also the general community at large.

I feel positive of the future of the arts in Wisconsin. I am aware that most of my students staying in and near Milwaukee after graduating are contributing to communities. I am also aware of them dealing with financial struggle to continue their creative endeavor. I just wish that the state leaders will recognize the value of art more and raise funding to support the artists/ creative people, especially emerging young artists. As an artist benefitted by Wisconsin Arts Board Award Fellowship a long time ago, I hope it will be also resurrected as well.

Congratulations to Wisconsin Arts Board for the 50 years of leadership and contribution, and more to come!

Where we can find your work?

You can find Kyoung Ae’s work on her website: http://www.kyoungaecho.com/