Kay Rooney has been creating art her entire life. Her father, a graduate of The Art Institute of Chicago, continually encouraged her as a child to draw, craft and create. Later, her passion turned to education and she completed a B.S. Ed with an emphasis in Art from Northern Illinois University in 1985. Kay taught art classes at West Aurora High School for the next 12 years while continuing to take graduate level art classes. While taking an advanced graduate drawing class at the Field Museum in Chicago she fell in love with rendering sacred artifacts from all over the world. Drawing these historical pieces was a defining moment and was just the beginning of her visual quest.
Kay’s first trip to the Hawaiian Islands was in 1979 and she has returned often since then. She was enchanted and awe inspired by the ki’i gods at Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, and she continues to attempt to capture their essence and the allure that these sacred pieces and other ancient Hawaiian icons evoke.
Kay currently lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with her family near the shores of Lake Superior.