In a career spanning over 40 years, Ellen Kochansky has actively promoted the arts, the preservation and extension of craft traditions, and environmentally responsible practices.
She founded The Rensing Center (2009-2022), a non-profit creative/environmental residency program, to further these goals and to connect the creative process to our need to live more gently on the earth. Her artistic practice is rooted in her experience as a textile artist, designer and quilter, and her work has always stretched those definitions to include experimental fiber and mixed-media art, public and private commissions as well as community-based and site-specific installations.
For her company, EKO, she designed and manufactured custom quilts from 1989 to 2004. She has been an American Craft Council trustee (1989-1993), a National Endowment for the Arts American Canvas panelist (1997), and a founding director of Ripple Effect Sustainable Design Group (1999-2001). She has twice been chosen craft fellow by the SCAC.
Ellen has shared her experience through teaching and workshops, including Penland, Arrowmont, and the Innovation Institute (McColl Center, Charlotte), and as a juror for national art shows such as Cherry Creek, Evanston, and American Craft Council, as well as South Carolina’s Governor’s Awards for the Arts. Her work is included in The Mint Museum, The American Museum of Art and Design in New York, and the White House collection, and she has been cited in various books, articles, and television programs, notably CBS Sunday Morning and the book Six Continents of Quilts.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Executive Director, Rensing Center, 2009-2022
Owner EKO Quilts, 1984-2009
Syracuse Univ., BFA Costume Design & Textiles, 1969
GRANTS
MARS Millenium Project, National Endowment for the Arts, 1999
SC Individual Artist Fellowship 1978, 1993
RESIDENCIES
Artist in Residence, 701 Center For Contemporary Art, Columbia SC, 2008
Artist in Residence, McColl Center, Charlotte NC Fall 2006
Artist in Residence, Artpark, Lewiston, NY, 1988, 2003
TEACHING
Creative Mentor: Art of Community, South Carolina Arts Commission, 2020-present
Teacher: Penland School, Arrowmont, many national conferences
Mentor: AMBIT and other international internship programs
National Endowment for the Arts, American Canvas Panelist, 1997
HallowGreen Workshop, Spartanburg Day School
Brick Wall, Greenville Fine Arts Center
Value Judgement, Levine Hospital
Tea Bags, Mint Museum
Bird by Bird, Daniel High School
COLLECTIONS & INSTALLATIONS
American Craft Museum Permanent Collection, NYC
White House Permanent Collection, Washington, DC
Bank of America, Gateway Center, Charlotte, NC
Mint Museum of Craft + Design Permanent Collection, Charlotte, NC
Columbia Museum of Art & Science, Columbia, SC
Gerald Hines Partnership, Chemed Center, Cincinnati, OH
Milliken & Co. Permanent Collection, Spartanburg, SC
Spartanburg Museum, Spartanburg, SC
Hundreds of other public and private collections
EXHIBITIONS
Six Continents of Quilts, American Craft Museum, NY, NY, 2002
Objects for Use, American Craft Museum, NY, NY, 2001-2002
White House Collection, National Museum of American Art, 1995
BOARDS
SC Arts Alliance, Board of Directors, 2018-present
American Craft Council Trustee 1990-92, Emeritus, 1993
Cultural Commissioner at large, Pickens County, SC 2003-2013
Ripple Effect Sustainable Design Group, Board of Directors, 2000
Revival Design Camp, Founding Director, 1997
JURIES
St. Louis Art Fair
Cherry Creek Arts Festival
American Craft Council, 5 years
Verner Awards, South Carolina Arts Commission