Creative Studio In Nature

In 2020, I purchased 5.5 acres of woodland along the Namekagon River in Northern Wisconsin. The driveway was installed in 2022. And at the end of 2023, a small shed was set in a small clearing. It’s finally here, nestled within the oak, maple, and pine! This will be the interim creative studio in 2024.

As a visual artist and writer I have a passion for story-making and genre crossing in creativity, art, and design. This studio-in-the-making is a natural progression toward creating collaborative experiences that connect creative process to the natural world.

What else is in-the-making? Me. I grew up rurally, in the fields of Illinois, surrounded by Master Gardeners (my mom, for over 30 years, and now my dad), nature-lovers (my brother), and birding experts (my aunt and uncle, they had a trail named after them!). Now I’m finding a rhythm with becoming a woodland and Wild & Scenic River steward. I read and learn from variety of communities, including volunteering as a Minnesota Master Naturalist.

Loose Leaf Project

Loose Leaf Project is a collaborative project workspace in the making. The pilot project, New Midwestern Nature Stories, applies visual art and story to shape perceptions about land, water, and protected natural areas. It will produce collectible prints and an artist-designed book. The slow build of this project is also the template for a larger co-creative concept that values the practice of in-depth creative development with guest creators.

Hand Papermaking

Since 2017, Karen has been designer for Hand Papermaking, a nonprofit print publication that advances the art and practice of hand papermaking to a worldwide community, and has been in publication for over 35 years. 

First printed in 1986, this bi-annual publication archives a unique repository of stories on the art and craft of hand papermaking from technique and approach in contemporary art to history, advocacy, equity, and community. Each issue includes tipped-in handmade paper samples.

Toward a New Way of Being With Plants

Friday, June 18th, 2021
Keynote speaker: Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree
Event partners: U of M, Center for Biological Diversity, CIIS, and more

Toward a New Way of Being With Plants explores human/plant connections ethics and opportunities for developing more respectful and reciprocal relationships between humans and plants.

Co-presenting with my brother Dr. David Koapcz, MD, our talk Remembering Our Living Relationship With Plants was part of a 3-day conference featuring 30 international speakers.

With permission from artist and author Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow), our talk highlighted an initiation ceremony filmed and edited by Karen in collaboration with Joseph and David. Joseph Rael was born in 1935 on the Southern Ute reservation to a chief’s granddaughter and a Tiwa-speaking Picuris native. He has authored 14 books, four of which were co-authored with David. The video coincided with the release of their book, "Becoming Medicine.”

Karen shared stories about working with Joseph and the importance of shifting language and ideas in order to promote consciously connecting to the living world.

SXSW Interactive Panelist

For her conceptualization of online arts & literature magazine Mental Contagion (2000-2008), Karen was invited to be a panel member of Fostering New Culture on the Internet at the SXSW 2005 Interactive Festival.

Keynote speakers: Malcom Gladwell and Ana Marie Cox.

Mental Contagion

For eight years, Karen collaborated monthly with writers across the U.S. to publish the arts & lit online magazine Mental Contagion featuring a national and global community of arts and culture creators.

At the dawn of the Internet, the magazine featured artists living in many countries around the world including, the U.S., Japan, Taiwan, Iran, Budapest, Russia, Peru, Australia, Italy, England, France, Ireland, and Scotland.

Within the 86 issues launched, notable features and interviews include: writers Andrei Codrescu, and Heather Mcelhatton, cinematographer Tim Cragg, light sculpture artist Grimanesa Amoros, mass culture photographer Chris Jordan, artist Andrea Carlson, explosion photographer Sarah Pickering, Rennie Sparks from the Handsome Family, Frank Warren, creator of PostSecret, and, of course, Craig of Craigslist.

MC was the platform that laid the foundation for Eric Hoffman’s biography on poet George Oppen. It was briefly a writing platform for Emily Johnson of Catalyst Dance. And, it was the predecessor publication to Loose Leaf Project.