William M. Duffy is a lifelong resident of Louisville, KY. After graduating from high school in 1971, he enrolled in the Louisville School of Art in Anchorage, KY to pursue his interest in drawing and painting. Upon graduating with a B.F.A. in Painting in 1976, he began working for the Louisville Museum of History & Science (now Kentucky Science Center) as an exhibits preparator. 

During his high school and college years, and for some time after, Duffy primarily devoted his creative energy to producing poignant paintings, silk screen prints and drawings that conveyed his African ancestry, his personal experiences within African-American culture, and the elemental experiences of humanity that connect us all.  

In 1980, Duffy witnessed a two-car accident that left a bank’s marble columns in ruins. He felt compelled to ask for a chunk and after taking the stone home, he pulled out a screwdriver and a hammer and began carving. Immediately, he knew he had found his calling. 

Learning from books and experimentation, Duffy taught himself to carve stone. After receiving multiple sculpture awards and many favorable reviews by professional art critics, he started working full-time as a sculptor in late 1980. In 1990, Duffy entered the annual Atlanta Life Co. National Art Competition and won the second-place sculpture award, placing behind world renowned sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett. He retired his paintbrush and silk screen paints shortly after, but continued to create pen and ink drawings.  

Best described as small yet monumental, Duffy’s figurative and abstract sculptures have won numerous purchase and merit awards in exhibitions throughout the United States. They have been purchased by several private, corporate and public organizations including Phillip Morris USA, Brown-Forman Corporation, Kentucky Fried Chicken (now YUM! Brands, Inc.), Humana Inc. and the J.B. Speed Art Museum.

Although Duffy’s primary career focus has been creating table-top sized stone sculptures, he has also expanded his repertoire to include large public works. Among his commissions are: Red Geranium Enterprises, New Harmony, IN (Charlamagne, Painted Wood Bas Relief-1993); Farmington Historic Plantation, Louisville, KY (Slave Memorial Bronze Bas Relief-2003); Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Bardstown, KY (Mother Mary, Bronze Sculpture-2004) and IDEAS X-Lab, Louisville, KY (On the Banks of Freedom Slave Memorial Stone Benches-2021).

Additionally, Duffy has been commissioned to create numerous awards over the years for organizations such as: Louisville Central Community Center (Lyman T. Johnson Award); Organization of Black Airline Pilots; City of Louisville (Dream Award); West Louisville Boys Choir (Hope Award); Louisville Youth Choir (Village Award); Kentucky Arts Council (Governor’s Awards in the Arts); Louisville Visual Art Association (LVA Honors Awards) and Goodwill Industries (Hand Up Award).

Duffy has always shared his talents by teaching, and over the past 40+ years he has taught all ages from every social and economic background. In February 1997, he received an official commendation from the Board of Education for "sharing his outstanding artistic gifts with students and staff in the Jefferson County Public Schools". In the beginning of 2018, Duffy was one of the first artists to be awarded Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 grants. One for his "Portraits of Pride" project, working with the West End School students on paper collages. The other, he received for his "In My Community" project, working with the New Albany, Indiana Griffin Community Center children on paper collages.

“I find his work draws me into its space and I can just gaze at it and feel mesmerized. There is absolutely no way you can walk past his work and not interact with it.” Gill Holland, Louisville Businessman, Real Estate Developer

“The strength of Duffy’s work, dealing with family and nurturing, is POWERFUL. That bulk and yet that sensitiveness...” – Ed Hamilton, Sculptor

“Duffy’s work is always both sensitive yet powerful. His vision and sense of space is wonderful.” Bob Markert, Retired Executive Director at Stained Glass School  

“I have always admired his ability to create sculptures that combine massive figures with tenderness and grace.” – Dave Caudill, Sculptor

www.wmduffy.com

A graduate of Hanover College, Janet Clements Britt obtained a Masters in Art Therapy at the University of Louisville. A door opened for an art educator at St. Francis School in Goshen and she walked through. In many ways her young students became her teachers and together they grew. Nineteen years later, Louisville Visual Art became her second home and for the past 12 years she has worn many hats.

She’s taught CFAC classes, summer camps, directed enriching projects in many public schools through the TAG grant program, led art groups for children living at St. Joseph Children’s Home through Open Doors and is currently teaching K-6th Holy Trinity Clifton Campus students.

In meeting each child where they are, Janet gives her students quality materials, lots of love, and continues to grow with them!

Shohei Katayama is a Japanese American artist who explores the space between light and dark, life and death, beauty and danger, nature and man. His work includes line drawings, sculpture, and installation art. Utilizing his art as a catalyst for environmental conversations, his work examines the underlying patterns and forces of nature by showcasing unseen relationships in ecology. Katayama uses materials that embodies the philosophy associated with ecological examination. Through his work, Katayama demonstrates the entanglements that are present between such systems and illustrates the disruptions that can occur when individual components are manipulated.
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Katayama received his MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2019. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award by the International Sculpture Center, the Frank-Ratchye Fund for the Art at the Frontier Award, and a finalist in the 21C Artadia award, among others. His work has been exhibited nationally, and internationally at the Palazzo Mora in Venice, Italy; 5 Manhattan West Building in New York; Plaxall Gallery in Long Island City; Littman Gallery in Portland, OR, and more. Katayama has participated in the Facebook Artist-in-Residence Program; the Arctic Circle Residency in Svalbard, Norway; the Labverde Amazon Residency in Manaus, Brazil; the International Sculpture Center Residency at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township, NJ; Tough Art Residency Program in Pittsburgh, PA, and at the Asia Institute Crane House in Louisville, KY.

shoheikatayama.com

Clare Hirn received a significant scholarship to attend the New York Academy of Art – Graduate School of Figurative Art, located in Manhattan. The curriculum continues to focus on strong foundational skills for working “realistically” from life and the figure.

After graduating with her masters in painting and drawing in 1990, Hirn worked for a mural design firm in NYC, learning the techniques of working large scale. Upon returning to her hometown of Louisville, KY she pursued both mural work and her personal painting, participating and receiving awards in many regional shows. Hirn’s fine art murals and paintings grace many homes, businesses, and public spaces and have appeared in numerous publications.