Karin Birch
1960, Pt Barrow, Alaska
Lives and works in Brunswick, Maryland
EDUCATION
Penland School of Craft, Penland NC, fiber, 1992
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia PA, painting 1983
Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC, painting & sculpture 1983
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Surface Tension, NOMA Gallery, Frederick MD
2021 A Way Home, Gravers Lane Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2021 Speaking to the Sky, NOMA Gallery, Frederick MD
2019 Stillness, Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery at Inova Schar
Cancer Institute. Fairfax, VA
2018 Embroidered Truths, NOMA Gallery, Frederick MD
2016 Weather, NOMA Gallery, Frederick MD
2014 Recent Work, Artique Underground, Frederick MD
2011 Meaning in Abeyance, Hillyer Art Space, Washington D.C.
2007 Advance & Retreat, Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts,
Wilmington DE
2005 Transition, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia PA
2002 Delicious Garden, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore MD
2000 Arranging Space, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laural MD
1998 Winter Cycle, Rockville Arts Place, Rockville MD
1994 XXO, Carroll County Arts Council, Westminster MD
1993 Threads & Beads, Frederick Community College, Frederick MD
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Arts Council of Wichita Falls Fiber Arts Invitational 2026,
Wichita Falls, Tx
Waverly Street Gallery 2026 Invitational, Bethesda, MD
2025 Women Artists of the DMV @ McLean Project for the Arts, curated by
Florencio Lennex Campello, McLean VA
DC Art Now 2025, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities,
Washington, D.C.
Idle Hands, XOXO Gallery, curated by Jodi Hoover & Carlotta Cerrato,
Baltimore, MD
2024 ReMembering, NOMA Gallery, Frederick MD, Invitational
Small Bites, Gravers Lane Gallery, Chestnut Hill PA, Invitational
Art in Treasured Spaces, hosted by the Maryland State Arts Council in
collaboration with the Maryland State Office of Comptroller,
Annapolis MD
2023 Warp & Weft, Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center at Howard
Community College, curated by Caitlyn Gill & Amy Cavanaugh,
Columbia MD, Invitational
2023 MSAC Triennial, at Maryland Art Place, Baltimore MD
2022 No Limit, Delaplaine Art Center, Frederick, MD
Sisterhood: Fine Craft, The Art Barn, Gaithersburg MD
Remembering, two person show, Karin Birch & Linda Popp, Stevenson
University, Owings Mills MD
Handcrafted, Blackrock Center for the Arts, curated by Rula Jones,
Gaithersburg MD
2021 Bloom, Gallery 115, Y Arts Center, Curated by Rula Jones, Frederick MD
Maryland Regional Virtual Exhibition Series #1Capital Maryland,
State Arts Council
Micro Gallery: Karin Birch & Lisa Sheirer, Y Arts Center.
September 2021- March 2023
2020 Material Women, The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, curated by
Shanti Norris, Washington DC
2019 Strictly Painting 12, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean VA
2018 Texture and Textile, Art Barn, Gaithersburg MD
2015 Bead, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston VA. Review
Washington Post 2/20/15
2014 Transformation: From One Thing to Another, McLean Project for
the Arts, McLean VA
What A Stitch, Gravers Lane Gallery, Philadelphia PA
2013 Artomatic@Frederick, Frederick MD, lead a Stitch-In for the community.
Threads Contemporary Embroidery, Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland, NY,
catalog and lead workshop
2012 7th Annual Bead Invitational, Pismo Fine Art Gallery, Denver CO
8th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman–Works Gallery,
Philadelphia PA
Hillyer Auction Gala & Retrospective, Washington DC
GRANTS & AWARDS
2025 James Green Artist Stipend given by the Frederick Arts Council
2022 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant
2022 The James M. Green Fund given by the Community Foundation of
Frederick MD
2022 C.A.N. Recovery Grant given by the Frederick Arts Council and NEA
2021 Artist In Residence, Y Arts Center, Frederick, MD.
October 21- March 2023
2021 READI Grant, Frederick Arts Council, Frederick, MD
2020 Relief Fund Award, Frederick Arts Council, Frederick, MD
2019 Carl R. Butler Individual Visual Artist Award, Frederick Arts Council,
Frederick, MD
2019 Honorable Mention, Cash award, Strictly Painting 12, McLean Project
for the Arts
2015 Cash Award, Transformation: From One Thing To Another,
McLean Project for the Arts
2007 American Craft Council’s Searchlight Award
2003 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Visual Arts
REVIEWS
Gallery Round-Up: Crafting Meaning, Warp & Weft, BmoreArt,
Fanni Somogyi 10/11/23
Bead, Washington Post, Mark Jenkins, Feb. 22, 2015
Modern Reston, Bead review, February 2015
Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, winter 2007/08, review, Shugle,
Spindle & Dyepot
Weaving a Unique Approach to Art New Journal of Delaware, July 3, 2007
Painting with Thread, The Purl Bee, March 2007
2006 International Fiber Biennial, PaMdora’s Box April 6, 2006
Seeds Energy born of Opposites, Michael O’Sullivan, 12/05, review,
The Washington Post
Divine Synthesis, Edward J. Sozanski, review 2/11/05, The Philadelphia
Inquirer
Art that Works, Michael O’Sullivan, review 1/21/05, Washington Post
Art in Stitches, Mike Giuliano, review 6/2/05, The Baltimore City Paper
Delicious Garden at MAP, Baltimore City Paper, June 2002
PUBLICATIONS
Two Brunswick Artists Chosen to Exhibit in Major Survey of Metro Area
Women Artists by Abbie Ricketts, Brunswick News-Journal, Oct. 2025
The Art of Karin Birch by Abbie Ricketts, Brunswick News-Journal, June 2024
Karin Birch exhibits embroidery paintings at NOMA, by Lauren LaRocca,
Frederick News Post Feb 27, 2023
Artists Karin Birch, Lisa Sheirer begin residency at Y Arts Center, Frederick
News Post by Lauren LaRocca, Sep 29, 2021
Q&A: Karin Birch by Laureen LaRocca, The Frederick News Post,
June, 17, 2021
BEAD, catalog, 2015
Threads Contemporary Embroidery, catalog, 2013
6 Years of Hillyer Artists, catalog, 2012
A Force of Nature, summer 2011, Home & Design Magazine
Extreme Embroidery @ MAD, White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art,
Feb. 2008
Pricked Extreme Embroidery Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot (Winter 2007/2008)
COLLECTIONS
The Art Bank, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington D.C.
The Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Washington DC
The Boston Museum of Fine Art, MA
The United States Embassy in Tashkent Uzbekistan
The Roger Ford Collection
The Dorothy Lemelson Collection
The Daphne Farago Collection
The Marcia Doctor Collection
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
NOMA Gallery, Frederick MD, 2015-2023
Graver’s Lane Gallery, Chestnut Hill PA, since 2012
Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia PA, 2000-2013
