Bio

Karen Schulz’s works have been described as sophisticated, elegant, and lively with a notable attention to detail and craftsmanship. Her work references a careful consideration of line, shape, color, and texture resulting in images which seem to issue an invitation to enter and linger.  Schulz’s work has been accepted into many national and international competitions and has been exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions both in the United States and abroad. Her work is in museum, corporate, and private collections.  She has garnered many awards, twice winning Best in Show at Quilt National and serving on the jury for Quilt National 2021.

Born, raised, and educated in the Northeast US, Schulz has resided in the DC area for the last 50 years.  A social worker for 30 years, Schulz retired from her psychotherapy practice in 2012 to devote her time to artmaking exclusively.  While she has used a sewing machine since the age of 9 and created original, one-of-a-kind quilts for the last 46 years, she came to artistic expression later in life and has pursued her art seriously and full time for the last 19 years studying with many notable artists in the field.

In 2016 Schulz began to explore acrylic and mixed media on paper. These efforts grew out of a frustration with the limits of working with cloth and a sewing machine to make marks. Each media influences the other as she works back and forth, sometimes merging the two worlds.

Statement

My effort in the studio is to create objects that have never been before, to underscore the notion that anything is possible, and human agency is powerful.

 I am searching. Searching and yearning for truth and beauty. The poet in me looks for beauty, the skeptic looks for truth.  I want my art to reflect the whole of me.  My curiosity drives me to create work in a call and response improvisational manner as I explore the nature of my materials.

 I begin working and the conscious mind quiets as the body takes over. Decision by decision, time becomes irrelevant. I interact with my chosen medium with acquired skill as form appears and meaning is revealed. It is a thrill to realize visual compositions where disparate elements of line, shape, and color, come together as if adhering to some mystical underlying rubric.

 Recent fiber pieces are created using screen printing and monoprinting techniques along with scraping and all manner of mark making as I explore the layering effects of applying fiber reactive dyes to cloth.  

Using formal design elements as a starting point, it is only through deep engagement with my materials and processes that content is eventually revealed.  I work almost exclusively in the realm of abstraction.  Events both personal and public, provincial and global are the context in which the artist finds herself and within which the art takes its place.  

Resume 2025

Solo Exhibitions

Fragile Strength, 2022 Springboard Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

A Fragile Strength, 2021 Stone Tower Gallery, Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, Maryland

Evidence of Identity, 2019 Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church, Washington, DC

On the Edge, 2019 Delaplaine Center for the Arts, Frederick, MD

Organic Geometry, 2012 Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church, Washington, DC

Karen Schulz: Thread Work, 2011 Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown MD

Two Person Exhibition

2025, International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska

A Reverence for Cloth, 2015, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown MD

Invitational Group Exhibitions

The Power of Patience 2021 Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown MD

Cloth Constructions 2020, International Quilt Museum, Lincoln Nebraska

Patchwork Design 2019 CONTENPORANEO- Exposicao Internacional de Arte Textil, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil

Off the Grid, 2018, Kramer Gallery, Silver Spring, MD

Color Improvisations 2, 2016-2020, Tuch+Technik Textile Museum, Neumunster, Germany, France, Switzerland, USA

2016 Invitational, Waverly Street Gallery, Bethesda, MD

Art-Craft-Art 2014, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD

Contemporary Fiber Works, 2012 The Ratner Museum, Bethesda, MD

Mixing It Up, 2011 Kramer Gallery, Silver Spring, MD

Selected Juried Shows

Form Not Function 2021, Best in Show, Carnegie Center for the Arts, New Albany IN

Creative Crafts Council Exhibition 2021, Potomac Fiber Arts Guild Award, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD

Quilt National 2019, Best in Show, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH

Creative Crafts Council Exhibition 2019, Potomac Craftsmen Award, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD

Art Quilt Elements 2018, Juror’s Choice Award, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA

Quilts=Art=Quilts 2018, Best in Show, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York

Quilt National 2017, Juror’s Choice Award, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, Ohio

Quilt National 2015, Best in Show, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH

Quilts=Art=Quilts 2015, First Place, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY

Creative Crafts Council Exhibition 2015, First Place in Fiber, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD

CraftForms 2014, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA

Quilts=Art=Quilts 2014, Schweinfurth Award for Design Excellence, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY

Quilt Visions 2014: The Sky’s the Limit, The Ann Pitzer Prize, Visions Art Museum, San Diego, CA

Deux: Two Ideas, Two Inspirations, Two Complimentary Quilts, SAQA Exhibition 2014, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy

Tribute to Fiber Arts 2014, Best in Show, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

Art Quilt Elements 2014, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA

Creative Crafts Council Exhibition 2013, First Place in Fiber, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD

Quilts=Art=Quilts 2013, Schweinfurth Award for Design Excellence, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY

Juror

Quilt National 2021, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens Ohio

Quilts=Art=Quilts 2021, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York