Janet Kuemmerlein
Master Fellowship in Visual and Fine Art

She began exhibiting in shows in galleries and museums nation-wide, where she won numerous awards and was contacted by architects and clients to create site-specific pieces. A prominent local piece was the 12’ x 20’ fiber sculpture, “Chrysalis” for the Alameda Hotel in 1973. The General Services Administration commissioned her to do 5’ x 30’ sculpture for the Social Security Building in Richmond, CA. A committee in Anchorage, AK saw a photo and commissioned her to do a 5.5’ x 50’ piece for the Z.J. Loussac Municipal Library in Anchorage. Many awards and commissions followed. 

Janet maintains a full time studio at 4051 Broadway, 2nd floor, Kansas City, MO, where she works on pieces for exhibition and sale. She teaches workshop in Kansas City schools for Young Audiences. She is also painting a series of portraits of women jazz vocalists for the American Jazz Museum.

Artist Statement

While Janet Kuemmerlein was growing up in Detroit, Michigan and spending summers in Colorado, she always had a propensity for making art. She was sent to Cass Technical School for artists, musicians and scientists. Following that she studied painting and drawing at The Center for Creative Studies and later sculpture and metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

After marriage and children, 3 sons and 1 daughter, she began making art and exhibiting. She found herself drawn to fiber because of its safety around children and its tactile appeal, luminosity, color and enless variety. She employed her knowledge of color and design combined with techniques of sculpture and metalsmithing to create a unique form of fiber art. Her work won numberous awards and architects and clients began requesting site-specific pieces. After the death of her husband in 1960, Janet turned to her art for fulfillment and income so requests for commissions were welcome. Janet particularly enjoys creating site-specific pieces because they can be placed in optimal settings with consideration to light sources, colors and surroundings. Janet continues to work on her studio pieces for exhibition and sale at 4051 Broadway, 2nd floor, Kansas City, Missouri, working in fiber and paint which expresses the color, exuberance, vibrancy, texture and movement found in growing forms in nature. Janet is one fo the founders of the Kansas Artists Craftmsan Association. She is also a member and volunteer of the Kansas City Artists Coalition. She teaches workshops for Young Audiences. Janet frequently lectures and judges exhibitions around the country.