Karen Joy Minish is a professional singer/actor who has lived in Banff since 1989. Her versatility as a performer has taken her from opera, musical theatre, film, cabaret and to the concert stage, singing in major venues in Canada and the United States. She holds a degree in Dramatic Studies from the University of Winnipeg, as well as a Diploma in Theatre Crafts and Design from The Banff Centre, where she has also been a participant in the Music Theatre, Opera as Theatre, Advanced Studies in Music and Community Musician’s Residency programs.
Karen is originally from Swan River, Manitoba and remains a prairie girl at heart. She is a self taught visual artist and her eclectic creative background also includes for the theatre: designing, building and painting props and stage sets. She has created original design pieces in stained glass and has received many commissions for her whimsical papier maché sculptures. "My paintings are definitely colourful and have been described many times as “looking happy". I like to paint paintings that I would want to be part of, and that look delicious! This is the barometer by which I judge their success. I particularly love to paint the drama of a prairie sky and a night sky filled with stars. These images bring back such happy childhood memories of growing up in the Swan River Valley in Manitoba."
Previous solo exhibitions include:
COLOR EXPLOSION! (September 2013) JEWEL TONES (November 2011) and COLOUR CODED (November 2010) Banff Town Hall; A SYMPHONY OF COLOUR (November 2005), FLIGHTS OF FANCY (November 2003), ROOFTOPS (October 2001) and WHYMSICAL WHATEVERS (October 1999) Banff Public Library and also a private exhibition at Cornerstone Dinner Theatre in Canmore. She has exhibited in group shows with Canmore Artist’s Guild and the Homegrown Art Show (Banff Town Hall), as well as exhibiting in the Art from the Heart at the Canmore Hospital. Her paintings are in many private collections. Karen has also had the honour of creating the painting for the image used on the 2013 Melissa’s Road Race t-shirt, the race held annually in Banff National Park. She has an upcoming exhibition at Paintbox Lodge in Canmore, Alberta spring of 2014.