1946–

For the 1992 A Personal Statement exhibition sponsored by the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Kathy Thompson wrote, “The last 15 years of my life have been committed to working and earning a living as a visual artist. For me, this is what is important about my work. What I have produced over the years has been about my life — series about my friends, series about my family, series about realizations and expectations, and now series about the exploration of the media.”

More than 30 years later, this sentiment still holds true. “It’s never been about the money,” she said. “This is just the work that I want to do.”

Thompson was born in El Dorado and graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., in 1973. In 1976, she and her son moved to Fayetteville, where she has been active in the arts community as an artist, teacher and interior decorator for almost 50 years.

“I was asked to be in A Personal Statement at the Arkansas Arts Center,” said Thompson. “I suspect there was an awareness of my work through my being a founding member of the Calabash Pottery Collective. This group of five women ceramic artists, through hard work and determination, had well-earned recognition of our work. We were bold and fearless and attracted quite a following of our free, wonderful and crazy lives.

“The opening at the national museum was fun! I had a lot of friends and family there from all over the country,” she said. “The work of mine that was shown at the museum was CHAIR, SERIES #1, which I painted in 1990. This series symbolized being alone. Dr. Charlott Jones, the curator of the Arkansas exhibition, described my work as ‘ . . . looking for a new pattern in life, a new view of the ordinary with her flattened chairs, her suggestions of vegetation, of architecture, her stripes and colors. Their fresh beauty emits a siren call to return . . .

“Being part of the exhibition at NMWA was affirmation that I was an artist and that people recognized that,” said Thompson. “I wouldn’t say my selection had an impact on my career, it was just a part of my career. I continued to work hard. I received an Artist in Schools grant and taught at Washington Elementary in Fayetteville and at several alternative schools there, and I gave private lessons in my studio. I loved doing window installations in my studio space, which fronted Mountain Street on the Fayetteville Square. I was making art available to all who walked by to experience.”

During her years in Fayetteville, Thompson has worked in ceramics, contemporary painting, collage and interior design. Her interior design work includes Bordino’s Restaurant and three locations of Arsaga’s Coffee House. She has served on the Fayetteville Arts Council and the Arts Advisory Board at the University of Arkansas and is currently a curator at the Alexander Gallery at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville.

Thompson has worked with students of all ages to explore their creative talents since 1986. “I love teaching,” she said. “It’s not laborious — it’s helping kids have fun by looking at the world in a new way.”

She has been surprised by how many of her former students have gone into design and architecture fields. “I thought I was just teaching them to have fun,” she said.

“I’ve done a lot of different things to sustain my life as an artist,” said Thompson. “I’ve taught and mentored young artists, created and sold art, created spaces to hold art and community and provided artistic consultation on programs and places. What’s most important is that I’ve succeeded in living my life as an artist. This journey hasn’t been without stress, but through it all I’ve supported myself and my family and found success as a visual artist.

“My grandmother was one of the biggest influences on my life,” she said. “There are many parallels between our lives. As a single parent she moved her two young sons to El Dorado, where she started a very successful music business, Parker Music, which sold musical instruments. Imagine being a single woman raising two sons and running a successful business in the early 1900s.

“You have to know what you want and stick to it,” she said. “It also helps to be a little bit crazy. My work at NMWA was about recognizing ‘it’s all up to you.’ My life has been built on relationships, which often opened doors to opportunities.”