~ Michaela Kahn ~
Copywriting for Artists

Combining a deep appreciation for the visual arts and a dexterity with words (honed through years of practice, and a couple graduate degrees), I have been working with and writing about artists, galleries, and museums for over twenty years.

While a picture can indeed paint a thousand words, words do still matter as a way to get your work to people. A comprehensive artist statement, a compelling bio, or descriptive text can help provide a bridge between your work and the public, enhancing its accessibility and generating interest.

As an art writer I think I have two superpowers. First, I have a talent for adapting my writing style to your voice. I don’t want to produce something generic; I want to produce something that feels like you. Second, over the years I have developed a kind of writing about art that focuses on perspective, which helps lead a viewer through the process of how to view an artist’s work. This itself can help form a bridge between your vision and a viewer’s.

A variety of writing and editing projects, from Press Releases and Newsletters to Books, Articles, Catalogs, and web content.

From artnet

“There is something inside the viewer that leaps in response to David Simpson’s paintings, a feeling that rises, draws a deep ah of breath, and becomes entranced, enmeshed in the orbit of each piece. These works have a kind of gravity – like small suns or worlds. They seamlessly pull the viewer to move, shift, to ...” Read more >

From artdaily

“The day-to-day fades over time. The intricate and intimate details recede, leaving only a broad sweep of experience. Patterns of a life lived. What remains that is bright? What remains that feels, in the remembering, more real than the next every-day before you?” Read more >

More examples in links below

MICHAELA KAHN, MFA, PhD

Over 20 years professional writing and editing experience for non-profits, artists, arts organizations, and businesses internationally.

ACADEMIC PREPARATION

2014
PhD in English/Creative Writing
Swansea University, UK

2000
M.F.A. in Writing & Poetics
Naropa University, Boulder, CO

1997
B.A. in English Literature
California State Polytechnic University at Pomona
Summa Cum Laude

FREELANCE WRITER/EDITOR :: 2002 – PRESENT

In the Arts: ART Santa Fe • ART Santa Fe Presents • T.A. Barron (YA Author) • Alfonso Frattegiani Bianchi (Artist) • Bridge Pottery • Charlotte Jackson Fine Art • C.M. Russell Museum • The Harwood Museum of Art • John Lewis Glass (Artist) • Florence Pierce (Artist) • Micki Schloessinak (Artist) • Clark Walding (Artist) • Joan Watts (Artist) • David Simpson (Artist). Presses: Kestrel Press • Parthian Books • Radius Books. Businesses/Non-Profits: Campana Design • Eco Unique Cuisine • Evergreen Management • Humane Capital, LLC • Humane Society of the United States • London International • Mixonium Meta Media • Oxus Environmental • Scher Center for Wellbeing • Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis • Voice for H.O.P.E.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Book

Joan Watts: bodhi, Radius Books, Santa Fe, NM, June 2018.

Exhibition Catalogs/Essays

Clark Walding – Evanescence, Catalog, CJFA, Santa Fe, NM, 2022.
David Simpson – Secret Garden, Catalog, CJFA, Santa Fe, NM, 2021.
David Simpson – Fading Memories, Catalog, CJFA, Santa Fe, NM, 2020.
David Simpson – Paintings Past, Present, & Future, Catalog, CJFA, Santa Fe, NM, 2020.
Flux - The work of Clark Walding, Catalog, CJFA, Santa Fe, NM, 2013.
“From standing stones to railroad platforms” in Alfonso Fratteggiani Bianchi: dalle Alpi alle Piramidi-dal
Manzanarre al Reno.  Orler-Gallerie d’Arte, Favaro Veneto, Italy. April 2012.

Online/Magazines

“Joan Watts: Zazen,” Artillery Mag, June 2024.
“Tom Waldron: Steel & Concrete,” Artillery Mag, April 2024.
“David Simpson: First Light” Artnet, January 2024.
“Constance DeJong: SEQUENCE” Artnet, October 2023.
“Robert Kelly: The Pearl Diver and Other Stories,” Artillery Mag, September 2023.
“Max Cole: Breaking Day,” ArtDaily, July 2023.