Karen “KE” Griffin

Kansas City native Karen E. Griffin (KE) is an award-winning visual, teaching, and performing artist creates vibrant abstract works explore themes of identity and urban landscapes. Influenced by her mother's entrepreneurial spirit and formative experiences with her seventh-grade art teacher, art classes the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City and Hallmark Cards Inc. Griffin's art reflects a unique perspective shaped by her Kansas City, Missouri and Marlin, Texas roots. She is a Certified National and International Storyteller due to life encounters regarding her grandmother picking
cotton and her mother measuring cotton in the garment district in Kansas City. Karen E. Griffin's artistic contributions to the Kansas City area have earned her significant recognition, including being named the Missouri Arts Council Honoree 2025 Individual Artist presenting the State of Missouri and the City of Kansas City. The Jackson County, Missouri, Office of the County Legislature further honored her with Proclamation Resolution NO. 21819. Artist-in-Residence, Englewood Arts Center 2023- 2025, Independence, Missouri. Her educational and historical collections, exhibited across the metro area and other states, were highlighted in the Examiner, Wichita, Kansas The Shout, Kansas City Studio Magazine, The Call Paper and The Kansas City Globe. In addition to her art, Griffin dedicates time to reading, enjoying conversations with her grandchildren, and supporting the homeless community.