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Updated 9/19/2023

karen Krolak

  • M

    MA

Institution/Business Type: Artist / Creative (Individual)

karen Krolak (she/her - Care-wren Crow-lock) is a free range collaborator who lives with a rare chronic health condition on the unceded lands of the Massachusett and Pawtucket near Boston, MA. She is the co-founder/co-Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse and the creator of the Dictionary of Negative Space. Her embodied explorations weave in elements of text, textiles, choreography or storytelling to spark dialogues that reverberate between communities and have been presented abroad in Italy, the UK, Canada, India, and S. Korea, as well as nationally and throughout New England. For over twenty years, she has collaborated with Nicole Harris on a diverse range of dance and other media projects. In addition, Krolak frequently collaborates with Jason Ries, Jeremy Wechsler, Kwaq7aj', Ralph Farris, Eric John Meyer, Anne Howarth, Kim Holman, Cassandre Charles, Scott McPheeters, and Barry Duncan. karen is a co-producer of NACHMO Boston, co-director of aMaSSiT at The Dance Complex, co-curator of the Malden Dance Mile, a member of the 2022 Dancing Disability cohort at UCLA, a Humanities Advisor to the Black Arts Sanctuary, a Board member for The Flavor Continues and the Boston Dance Alliance, and a Sustainability Advisor for Subcircle

Much of her recent work has centered around the theme of finding physical poetry in imperfect bodies and around mourning. Krolak’s quirky knitting pattern/personal essay/instruction based art piece, Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Room Blues, won the First Annual Feels Blind Literary DIY Prize and has been presented in at the Institute for Conceptual Studies online and at the CICA Museum in Gimpo, Korea. Her essay, Unexpected Artist in Residency in a Hospital, and her DIY hospital robe pattern were recently published in Piney Woods Atlas’s Midwest edition. 

In 2022, Stove Works in Chattanooga, TN presented her first solo exhibition, addenda: an exercise course from the Dictionary of Negative Space and her stop motion film collaboration with Nicole Harris, Pane #432.1, was exhibited at the City of Reno's Canyon Flats Video Wall, a new public art space. She has been a dramaturg for Kim Holman's Contradictions + Causal Self Loathing and audio described the streaming recording of Holman's Common Circus. Krolak is part of Monkeyhouse's 2023 Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice cohort.

 

Find Me

karen Krolak (she/her/hers)
Job Title: Choreographer, teacher, costume designer, writer
Address:
Malden, MA 02148

Social Media:

Additional Content:

  • Dictionary of Negative Space

    Online iteration of my ongoing project that holds space for the unnamed ideas in the English language related to grief, death, and trauma

  • Monkeyhouse website

    Monkeyhouse is an award winning nonprofit that connects communities through choreography. We have worked with over 115 choreographers/dance organizations through our COVID Collaborations sparked by donations from the Miner Nagy Family Fund

  • [24]

    Audio illustration of entry number [24] from the Dictionary of Negative Space. Performed and recorded at the Podcast Garage.

  • Mementos Podcast Episode 1 A T-shirt Hug from Dad

    An interview with me from a podcast that has been picked up by PRX and played all around the world

  • Episode 358 Person Place Thing

    An interview with me by Emmy award winning writer Randy Cohen

  • Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Waiting Room Blues

    My quirky knitting pattern/personal essay/instruction based art piece, Slippers to Soothe Your Emergency Room Blues, winner of the First Annual Feels Blind Literary DIY Prize.

  • Hi Phi Nation S5, Episode 7: Memorials

    Podcast looks at why abstract rather than representational memorials resonate better with people in recent years. Guest voices include Karen Krolak, James Young, and Michael Hays.

  • MFA-IA Alumna Karen Krolak

    Interview with Kara Q. Smith for the University of Nevada Reno blog about the Panes series of work.

  • Winding Up

    Title graphic reads: ‘Winding Up. karen Krolak. [Escape from the rabbit hole of coworkers and unfinished projects. Backup and start this thought all over.]?’

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

1993

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

Artist / Creative (Individual)

Legal Status:

Commercial / For profit - Sole proprietorship

Year Founded:

1993

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Multi-Disciplinary

Additional Disciplines:

  • Visual/Crafts - Installation

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Arts for Social Change / Creative Activism
  • Arts and Health
  • Creation of a Work of Art (Including Commissions)
  • Public Art Projects (In Free, Public Spaces)
  • Arts Instruction / Lessons
  • Curriculum Development
  • Residency - In School
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Theater Technical Production
  • Consulting - Curatorial Services
  • Consulting - Organizational Capacity
  • Professional Development / Training
  • Film Showings
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Wedding / Parties / Private Gatherings
  • Exhibitions
Seasons Active: spring, summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 30

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Elders
  • General Public
  • Nonprofits
  • People with Disabilities
  • Teens
  • LGBTQ Populations

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National
  • International

Accessibility of Services

Accessibility of Services:

  • Access accommodations for people who use a wheelchair and have limited mobility
  • Access accommodations for people who are blind, partially sighted, and have low vision

Media Gallery

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Professional Associations

Professional Associations:

  • Co-founder/co-Artistic Director - Monkeyhouse, MA
  • Board Member - Boston Dance Alliance, MA
  • Board Member - The Flavor Continues
  • Regional co-Producter - NACHMO Boston, MA
  • Minister of Pom Poms & Big Ideas - Clary & Cimermanis Little Free Library, MA
  • Dramaturg and Audio Describer - Luminarium
  • Humanities Advisor - The Black Arts Sanctuary, Boston, MA
  • Sustainability Advisor - Subcircle, Biddeford, ME
  • Circle of Advisors - Dance Complex, MA

Professional Associations

Professional Associations:

  • Co-founder/co-Artistic Director - Monkeyhouse, MA
  • Board Member - Boston Dance Alliance, MA
  • Board Member - The Flavor Continues
  • Regional co-Producter - NACHMO Boston, MA
  • Minister of Pom Poms & Big Ideas - Clary & Cimermanis Little Free Library, MA
  • Dramaturg and Audio Describer - Luminarium
  • Humanities Advisor - The Black Arts Sanctuary, Boston, MA
  • Sustainability Advisor - Subcircle, Biddeford, ME
  • Circle of Advisors - Dance Complex, MA

Awards

Awards:

  • 2022 New England Dance Fund Network
  • 2022 Collective Futures Fund Sustaining Practice Grant
  • 2022 Dancing Disability cohort member, UCLA
  • 2022 LAB grant from the Boston Foundation
  • 2021 Production Residency, Dutch Kills Theater, New York, NY
  • 2020 Medford LCC Grant, Medford, MA
  • 2020 Malden LCC Grant, Malden, MA (also 2019)
  • 2020 Public Art Learning Grant, New England Foundation for the Arts
  • 2019 Feels Blind Literary Magazine DIY Prize
  • 2019 Newton LCC Grant
  • 2015 Hiraeth 2.0, One of the Best Dance Pieces of 2015, Arts Fuse, Cambridge MA
  • 2015 Travel and Residency, Scholarship, Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, NV
  • 2015 Starland Scholarship, Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, NV
  • 2019 Artist in Residence, Lark Theater, NY

Education

Education:

  • B.A. Linguistics Northwestern University
  • M.F.A. Interdisciplinary Arts Sierra Nevada College

Special Designations

Special Designations:

  • NEFA Grant Recipient

Artist Info

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • Healthcare Facility
  • Private Studio
  • School / University

Ages Served:

  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults
  • Seniors

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Communications
  • Arts Integration - English Language / Literacy
  • Dance
  • Theater
  • Visual/Crafts

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • Healthcare Facility
  • Private Studio
  • School / University

Ages Served:

  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults
  • Seniors

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Communications
  • Arts Integration - English Language / Literacy
  • Dance
  • Theater
  • Visual/Crafts

Touring Artist

NEST Eligible Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • Prefer a wood floor but can be flexible. Other tech requirements depend on performance.

Accessibility Accommodations Needed:

  • Access accommodations for people who use a wheelchair and have limited mobility

Please contact me for my access rider

Fee Range:

$250 - $10,000

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

1

Maximum Number of Performers:

6