Michael Kennedy

A creative director executive in the home décor industry, Michael Kennedy was always encouraged by his grandmother and others in Licking County, including abstract artist Helen Warner, to explore the arts. 

Kennedy cherished his time every week spent with his grandmother. She showed him how to carefully observe everything around him. She rarely critiqued, but always encouraged. He especially values his lifetime relationship with his cousin Anne Sherwood Pundyk – who has continually inspired him to follow his artistic passions.

As a college fine arts major Kennedy studied different painting approaches and found a connection with America’s Abstract Expressionist movement. He became fascinated with the gestural, color-driven work of such women artists as Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler.

Recently, returning to painting after years away, Kennedy is moved by the colors of his grandmother’s work during her time at The Art Students League of New York. He is also interested in exploring, in his painting and photography, the convergence of the past and the future. After years of designing and marketing products, he relishes creating art with unfettered freedom.