Meet Kathy Beekman

Kathy Beekman is a well-known artist in the mountain community whose soft pastel paintings have been admired and coveted by Evergreen residents for many years. Her signature artistic renderings often include an isolated barn or cottage standing on a faraway hillside with intense emphasis on a verdant, rolling field or perhaps a roiling, angry sky with powerful dark thunderclouds. Her work provokes a variety of reactions in the viewer. Some perceive them as eerily beautiful, mysterious or perhaps mystical. Others experience them as deeply meaningful or peaceful in a lonely, isolated kind of way.

Many viewers automatically assume that the artist must be a loner, a solitary soul whose work reflects an introverted individual. Whatever emotions are evoked by studying her artwork, once you get to know her, you realize Kathy is a multi-faceted woman with many nuances to her personality and style.

In person, Kathy is often jovial and playful. No matter what she is doing, she maintains an exuberance about life and frequently puts a humorous emphasis on her interactions with friends and colleagues. She laughs a lot; in fact, she often chortles! She likes to play practical jokes on family and close friends and she willingly makes light-hearted fun of herself. Yet at the same time, she also exudes an air of steadfastness and reliability. When community members are looking for someone to take a leadership role they often turn to Kathy.

Kathy has been married for many years to Dr. Chris Beekman, an archaeologist who is a professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of Colorado at Denver. He has an ongoing archaeological project in Mexico and periodically heads south to Mexico to oversee the work going on there. Kathy loves teaming up with him on these digs and used to periodically spend a number of months away from Colorado each year. In more recent years she’s has had to curtail her travels to Mexico to shorter stretches of time due to the growing demands of her professional success. .

This brings us to yet another aspect of Kathy’s personality. She is a real go-getter and quite the entrepreneur. Kathy’s art work is presently represented by 10 different art galleries through the United States and also in Mexico – quite a coup for an artist. She works extremely diligently to keep them all stocked with her constantly evolving art work. She also has a second business as a personal/business coach focusing on emerging artists who need help in increasing g their level of confidence to translate their artistic skills to business success.

Kathy’s energy and organizational skills are also demonstrated through her heavy involvement in the Board of Directors of the Center for the Arts-Evergreen. She currently serves as both vice-president and secretary of that board and will take the helm as president in January of 2013. She has previously served as President of the Evergreen Artists’ Association.