Judy Kensley McKie

{{Infobox person

| other_names = Judy McKie

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1944}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

| name = Judy Kensley McKie

| alma_mater = Rhode Island School of Design

| occupation = furniture designer, furniture maker

| known_for = furniture craft

| movement = studio furniture

}}

Judy Kensley McKie (born 1944) is an American artist, furniture designer, and furniture maker. She has been making her signature style of furniture with carved and embellished animal and plant motifs since 1977.{{Cite web|url=https://finefurnituremaker.com/news-blog/judy-kensley-mckie-furniture-designer/|title=Judy Kensley McKie - Furniture Designer|date=2013-06-03|website=Fine Furniture Maker|language=en|access-date=2019-09-04}}{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Joy Cattanach|date=January 1984|title=Judy Kensley McKie|journal=American Craft}} She is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Early life and education

File:Judy Kensley McKie bench at Eastport Park, Boston.JPG

Judy Kensley McKie was born in 1944 in Boston, Massachusetts.{{Cite web|title=Judy Kensley McKie|url=https://americanart.si.edu/artist/judy-kensley-mckie-6870|access-date=2021-08-24|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum|language=en-US}} As a young person, McKie worked with her graphic designer father in his woodshop, helping to manufacturing pieces. She cites this work as early inspiration to make furniture.

She received her BFA degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1966.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wagmag.com/furniture-as-art/|title=Furniture as art {{!}} WAG MAGAZINE|date=March 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-04}}{{Cite book|title=Makers : a history of American studio craft|last=Koplos, Janet.|date=2010|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|others=Metcalf, Bruce, 1949-, Center for Craft, Creativity & Design.|isbn=9780807895832|location=Chapel Hill|oclc=658203695}} As a painter, she was drawn to figurative art from ancient cultures, an influence that shows up later in her furniture. Her entrance to furniture making came from the necessity to furnish her own home and to create pieces of furniture for her friends.

Career

In the late 60s, she joined a cooperative workspace called "New Hamburger Cabinet Works". While working in this space, McKie honed her craft skills through trial-and-error and by working around other furniture makers such as {{III|Michael Hurwitz|qid=Q106585072}}.{{Cite journal|last=Cummins|first=Jim|date=February 1984|title=Whether furniture or art, it's hard and dusty work|url=https://www.finewoodworking.com/FWNFREEPDF/011044076.pdf|journal=Fine Woodworking|pages=76–80}} After several years of working on cabinetry and other projects built collaboratively with the other members of the cooperative, McKie ventured into her own style which included curves, personal ideals, and inspiration from plants and animals.{{Cite book|title=Choosing craft : the artist's viewpoint|date=2009|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|others=Halper, Vicki., Douglas, Diane, 1951-|isbn=9780807889923|location=Chapel Hill|pages=120–122|oclc=646811437}}{{Cite book|title=Women designers in the USA, 1900-2000 : diversity and difference : Jacqueline M. Atkins [and others]|date=2000|publisher=Yale University Press|others=Kirkham, Pat., Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts.|isbn=0300087349|location=New Haven, CT|pages=299–300|oclc=45486311}}

McKie began to carve low-relief patterns of animals and nature into her furniture work in 1975. This started on flat surfaces such as boxes and evolved to the structural elements of the work such as a table in which two dogs with long tails and bones in their mouths sit underneath a glass table top and a rocking chair with a pair of rattle snakes as the rockers. This unique style of work earned Mckie sales and commissions as well as significant recognition in the field of studio furniture.

McKie's work was included alongside her contemporaries Wendell Castle and Joyce Anderson in the 1979 exhibition "New Handmade Furniture: American Furniture Makers Working in Hardwood" held at the American Craft Museum in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillips.com/article/29931234/wendell-castle-and-judy-kensley-mckie-woodworking-of-the-american-east-coast|title=Wendell Castle and Judy Kensley McKie: Woodworking of the American East Coast|website=Phillips|language=en|access-date=2019-09-04}} in 2004, McKie held a solo exhibition at Pritam & Eames gallery.{{Cite journal|date=2004|title=The Furniture Art of Judy Kensley McKie|url=https://woodturning.pastperfectonline.com/library/2AB66066-2689-451B-9B1F-786153237170|journal=Pritam & Eames Exhibition Catalog}} In the Spring of 2018, McKie had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco "Judy Kensley McKie: Cast of Characters", curated by Glenn Adamson and Ariel Zaccheo.{{Cite web|url=https://sfmcd.org/judy-kensley-mckie-cast-of-characters/|title=Judy Kensley McKie: Cast of Characters|last=MCD|date=2018-04-02|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-04}}

Her work is included in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Her piece, Leopard Chest, was acquired by SAAM as part of the Renwick Gallery's 50th Anniversary Campaign.{{cite book |last1=Savig |first1=Mary |last2=Atkinson |first2=Nora |last3=Montiel |first3=Anya |title=This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World |date=2022 |publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum |location=Washington, DC |isbn=9781913875268 |pages=228–238}}

Awards and honors

1998 - Fellow, The American Craft Council{{Cite web|url=https://craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/judy-kensley-mckie|title=Judy Kensley McKie|website=American Craft Council|language=en|access-date=2019-09-04}}
2005 - Award of Distinction, the Furniture Society{{Cite web|url=https://furnsoc.org/members/award-of-distinction/judy-kensley-mckie|title=Judy Kensley McKie|website=The Furniture Society|language=en|access-date=2019-09-04}}