"Captivated by the power and wonder of nature and humanity, I build worlds to investigate and celebrate the borderless spaces between people, cultures, nature, and time, honoring our collective potential."
Karen L. Maness is a multidisciplinary artist and professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin, known for her studio work that combines expansive landscapes with intimate human stories. Simultaneously pursuing a career in American theatre, Maness’ painting explores time, transformation, and the profound connection between individuals and their environments.
Co-author of the award-winning book "The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop" (ReganArts, 2017), Maness engages in public art, public speaking, exhibition curation, art consultation, and private/corporate commissions. She oversees the Hollywood Backdrop Collection at UT Austin, chronicling motion picture scenic art history through research, publication, and teaching the art form to new generations of artists and filmmakers at the Texas Performing Arts Fabrication Studios.
b. San Diego, CA, 1973
EDUCATION
2001, 2003
The Florence Academy of Art, Academic Drawing, Landscape Painting, Anatomy, Figurative Painting
2000
Cobalt Studios, White Lake, NY, Advanced Studies in Translucent Backdrop Painting
1995
Whittier College, Scholars Program, B.A., Studio Art and Theatrical Design
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
Muse Gallery, Good Dad Studios, Austin, TX, "New Beginnings"
2023
The Agency, Court Lurie, Vy Ngo, & Karen Maness, Austin, TX, " House of the Rising Sun"
2021
The McNay Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, "The Great Stage of Texas"
2018
Dougherty Art Center, Austin, TX, "Radical Realism: Refigured"
2017
Art Directors Guild Gallery 800, Hollywood, CA, "Painting Through Time"
2017
Georgetown Art Center, Group Show: Shawn Camp, Rebecca Bennett, Karen Maness, Georgetown, TX, "WIDE OPEN"
2016
Davis Gallery, Austin, TX, "Painters Painting Painters: Faces of Art in Austin"
2015
Georgetown Art Center, Georgetown, TX , "Women Painting Women: Texas"
2015
LOOK WEST, dwg. Urban Landscape Architecture, with Rebecca Bennett, Austin, TX
2010, 2011, 2013, 2023
The People’s Gallery, Austin City Hall, Austin, TX
2004-2004
East/Austin Studio Tour, Austin, TX
2008
Solo Exhibition: Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, TX
2007
Solo Exhibition: Austin Figurative Gallery, Austin, TX
1995
Menden Hall Gallery, Whittier, CA, "Through the Eyes of a Woman"
1995
Cal State University Los Angeles, CA, Women’s History Month Feminist Exhibition
EDUCATIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2021-Present
Texas Performing Arts Fabrication Studios, Texas Performing Arts, Austin, TX, Associate Director
2021-2025
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, Department of Theatre & Dance, School of Design and Creative Technology, Assistant Professor of Practice
2001-2021
Lecturer
2018-2020
Atelier Dojo, Austin, TX