Short Bio
A professional cartographer, Ken is a Midwestern printmaker (intaglio and relief) and watercolorist based in rural Maine.
Statement
Drawing is a medium that grew naturally out of my profession: cartography. (Secretly, I think that I became that cartographer because what I really wanted to do was to draw) In addition to pen and ink, my repertoire includes block and intaglio printing, and watercolor.
Biography
I was born and raised in Chicago, and with a couple of exceptions, most of the next twenty-five years of my life was spent in the Rust Belt cities of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. Although artistically talented as a child, I have devoted my professional career to cartographic design. In an effort to improve the design qualities of my maps, I took up art with the intention of utilizing what I had learned into my professional work; instead, I rediscovered my artistic roots while living in Ohio and have continued that path since relocating to Maine in 2010. For these reason, I have styled myself as the Rustbelt Cartographer, despite my current location, and, here in a former mill town, because of it.
Today, I live in the small and remote rural town of Millinocket, Maine. With some imagination, I can gaze upon Mount Katahdin from my front yard—the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail within the vast wilderness of Baxter State Park. I also live near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument—there is a lot of geography in Maine's North Woods!
I might be Maine-based, but I’m a cartographer, but my heart will forever be in the Great Lakes region.
Resume / CV
Exhibitions
2023 Big Ink. The Art Museum (Gibson Gallery), SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY.—*
2018 Plein Air Paint Out. North Light Gallery, Millinocket, ME.
2013 The Lost Maps of Norumbega. (April/May) Monkitree Gallery, Gardiner, ME (My first solo show)
2012 Occupy Art! The Union of Maine Visual Artists in Action. Harlow Gallery, Hallowell, ME. (Curated by Kenny Cole, Natasha Mayers and the UMVA)
2011 49th Annual Holiday Art Show. Harlow Gallery, Hallowell, ME.
2011 In the Shadow of the Mind. Monkitree, Gardiner, ME
2011 Variations IV. Circling the Square Press, Gardiner, ME.
2011 A Classic Monster Show. Sanctuary Tattoo, Portland, ME
2010 The Island of Misfit Toys. (Annual holiday show) Sanctuary Tattoo, Portland, ME
2010 ArtWalk Gardiner. (Maine): December, 2010; May, 2011; August, 2011.
2010 Creative Maine: The Works of Local Artists. Monkitree, Gardiner, ME
2010 10 on the Water. Circling the Square Press, Gardiner, ME.
2007 Beyond the Printed Page, volume 4. Artefino, Cleveland, OH
2006 Plein-Air Painters. South Euclid-Lyndhurst Public Library (OH) (curated by Mario Kujawski)
2006 Kaleidoscope 4. Summit Art Space, Akron (Jurors: Lynnda Arrasmith, Canton Museum of Art and Frederick C. Graff)—*
2006 Shag and Stripes. Art Benefit for Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2006 The Female Figure in Art: Contemporary Northeast Ohio Artists. Gallery 324, Cleveland, OH—*
2006 Collaborative Effort. Cuyahoga Community College Gallery West
2006 Artists of Rubber City Members’ Show. Summit ArtSpace, Akron, OH.
2006 Beyond the Printed Page, volume 3. Gallery 324, Cleveland, OH
2005 Beyond the Printed Page, volume 2. Art Metro Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2004 Arts Collinwood Opening Show. Arts Collinwood Center, Cleveland, OH (juror: William Busta, Heights Arts)—*
2004 The Thirty-third Annual Juried Exhibit and Competition. Valley Art Center, Chagrin Falls, OH (juror: Barbara Tannenbaum, Akron Art Museum)*
2004 Beyond the Printed Page. Art Metro Gallery, Cleveland, OH
*—Juried shows are italicized.
Reviews
Artscope Magazine, “Ken Gross: Lost Maps of Norumbega.” Taryn Plumb; May/June, 2013; p. 58.
Events
2022 Meet the Artist, Ktaadn Arts featured artist (May 28, 2022)
2019 Big Ink, 3S Artspace (June 2, 2019)
2014 Gulf of Maine King Tides 1st Annual Photo Contest, Honorable Mention
2012 Environmental Draw-a-thon, Monkitree Gallery, Gardiner, ME (June 23, 2012)
2012 Occupy Art! Draw-a-thon, Harlow Gallery, Hallowell, ME (Jan, 2012; organized by Kenny Cole and the Union of Maine Visual Artists)
Experience
2021–2023 Board member (May, 2021–2023) and Secretary (Dec, 2021–2023), Ktaadn Arts Education Center
2017 Volunteer, Feed the Engine, Biddeford, ME
2010–11 Artist-in-Residence, The ArtDogs, Gardiner, ME (May, 2010–Oct, 2011)
2010–11 ArtWalk Gardiner organization committee
2004–2010 Assistant to artist Mario Kujawski, Cleveland, OH
2006.06 Drawing demonstration as part of the J.A.R. Show (June Art Review) hosted by Art House, Inc. and Artist Review Today. (Cleveland, OH)
2004.02 Printing workshop/demonstration @Prism Gallery, Cleveland Heights, OH
2003–2010 Member, Murray Hill Figure Drawing School
2002–2004 Sales Associate, Fiori Gallery, Cleveland, OH
Representation
Maine Craft Portland (Portland, ME)
Monkitree (Gardiner, ME)
Ktaadn Resorts (Millinocket, ME)
Collections
Robert Saunders and Kala Ladenheim, Gardiner, ME
Jules Pieri (The Grommet)
Education
Masters, Community Planning and Development—University of Southern Maine
BA, History—Kent State University, minor in Geography (Cartography)
Rebel: Take Action
Print/Graphics Workshop
(Kifah Abdulla + Hope Revolto)
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
May, 2022
Topics in Studio Art: Shaping the Terrain (ART 312)
Casco Bay and Sea Level Rise
(Jan Peribeck)
University of Southern Maine
Fall, 2014
Imaginative Geography
Workshop Intensive (Cynthia Davis)
Maine College of Art
June, 2011