Kari Maxwell will be heading west with her herd for the Bozeman Art Walk, Friday August 13, 4-8pm at Cello, 2 West Main Street.


With representation in Bozeman for over a decade, many are familiar with Kari Maxwell’s cow paintings. In the fall of 2018, bison made their way into the artist’s repertoire as well as the occasional fox, horse and wolf.

Maxwell plans to travel west, from Minneapolis to Bozeman, the week of August 9 with twenty paintings of her most recent work. These will be on exhibit the afternoon and evening of August 13 at Cello at 2 West Main Street as part of the Bozeman Art Walk.

Kari Maxwell and her husband, Peter Maxwell, lived in Bozeman in the nineties where Kari was a teacher at Great Beginnings Montessori School and Peter was a coach with the Bridger Ski Foundation. It wasn’t until after their move to Minneapolis (and with frequent trips back to Bozeman), that Kari received representation: first with the then gallery, Artifacts on East Main and now with Cello.


Regarding her cow paintings (and now the bison), Maxwell states, “My intent is to remind the viewer that although every individual is more than likely part of a group, they are most importantly, a unique individual. Perhaps these groups of animals we sometimes overlook can be seen differently. Perhaps instead of noticing herds, flocks or colonies, we’ll begin to notice individuals and all the quirks and idiosyncrasies in each being which are necessary when creating a whole.”


A few years ago, Maxwell read this excerpt from the book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, that seemed to connect many of the dots for her regarding her work:

"...in the Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as 'the younger brothers of creation'. We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn - we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way they live. They teach us by example."

In addition to being a visual artist, Maxwell is an educator and creative coach. In 2013, she founded The Create Everyday Classroom in Minneapolis where she teaches intuitive art to students ages 4 - 12 years. Her curriculum is based on museum visits (the Minneapolis Institute of Art), artist studies, children’s books and art making methods.

For more information, visit @karimaxwell_artist on instagram
Kari Maxwell, visual artist on Facebook
Her blog titled, Create Everyday
Maxwell is available via email at karimaxwell@mac.com