Articles by Nancy
QATHRYN BREHM, ARTIST AND COMMUNITY ACTIVIST
Artist Qathryn Brehm is a long time resident and community ‘go-to’ person in the Downtown Arts District . Originally, from Wisconsin, this transplanted mid-westerner fell in love with the excitement and diversity of Los Angeles and chose to make it her home. She has lived in the “Artists’ District” since the early 80’s and has seen a number of changes. Always involved with the neighborhood she works hard to create a ‘clean and safe’ environment for herself and her neighbors. Most recently she works as Director of Marketing and Community Relations for Central City East Association.
Qathryn was born in Appleton, Wisconsin and is a self-taught artist. She has always made art. In Wisconsin, where the winters are long, there is a lot of indoor time and the thing she always did was to make art. As a young person she apprenticed in the Decorative Arts, but, it seems like her first love was photography. Her father was a photo engraver for the Appleton Post Crescent, the local newspaper, which is still in existence today. He helped her set-up a darkroom and showed her how to develop pictures and gave her a photo-developing kit for her 14th birthday. So, her early work was in photography. She entered competitions and won some prizes for her work. She remembers the family all doing some sort of art or craft work at home; it was just part of their life. Later when she moved to California, she found that it became a way to make a living.
When asked why Los Angeles, she replied, “It was either San Francisco or Los Angeles,
and I guess it was the energy here. I love L.A. The diversity, the support of the Arts, at that time the education system here was great; you could take so many classes in all the Arts.” Qathryn Brehm’s art is multi-faceted and in some of her work you see the thread of her photo-based beginnings or the “making art as a way of life” or her background in the Decorative Arts. Some of her work is political in some sense, socio-political using found objects, photo and color to create assemblages or objects that express a thought that relates to some political issue. She uses her background in photo and decorative arts
in creating different textures and backgrounds for her pieces. Humor is also important in her work and some of the pieces tell wonderful stories in a very witty and fun way. The work is very mesmerizing and enchanting. One of her early influences was Georgia O’Keefe, who was born just 80 miles from Qathryn’s home of Appleton. She had heard about her growing up, but it wasn’t until she went to San Francisco and saw an exhibit of O’Keefe in a museum, “It was the first time I really saw the power of Art, it was like looking through a window, instead of seeing something hanging on the wall.” That was a pivotal point for Qathryn. She went from academic to inspired in her point of view of painting. She had gained a passion for it and not just the technical skill. She loved making things and solving problems but now, it was also about how a painting can speak to you. A vehicle to make things happen through you.
Qathryn now works more in the digital realm, but misses that touch of hand that is so much a part of her past work . She has done graphics for many years and done postcards for the LADAD (ladad.com) web site that she manages and edits. She started this site over 10 years ago and it has been the virtual gateway to the Art’s District since she created it. Brehm has always been involved with the community, from working on the Little Tokyo Inventory and being a ‘Ninja” in the Nisei Week celebration to always participating in events and groups in the Art’s District, i.e., LARABA, LADAD.com, Community Watch, founding member of DLANC (Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council) and more recently she is the V.P. for Art Share Los Angeles Board of Directors.
What is inspiring about Qathryn Brehm is her quiet dedication to the things she loves, family, friends, community and ART. When talking with her for this article, she commented on what her future hopes are, “ I would like to see the City of Los Angles embrace her artists. Currently it does not. If you under rate or ignore the creative forces, who will make the art to fill the museums, gallery walls and music venues. The arts are a huge economic engine for the City but there is very little payback or acknowledgement.”
Thank you for your passion and dedication to your community and art. May you continue to make art and share your creative energy with the world.
Qathryn Brehm can be contacted at: qbrehm@yahoo.com