Karen
Watkins

Karen Watkins

Assistant professor, Art

Education

  • M.F.A., Tyler School of Art , Temple University, 2016
  • B.F.A., Michigan State University, 1979

Professional Experience

Prior to her role as Assistant Professor at West Chester University, Karen served as art director for a leading communications design firm in the Museum, Aquarium, Zoo and education marketplace with print and exhibition design for clients including Hershey, Adventure Aquarium, The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Stroud Water Research, Sturbridge Village, The Barnes Foundation, The New Jersey State Museum, UPenn, UPenn Perelman Medical Center, the Chester County Historical Museum, among others. More recently, Karen has created work for personal clients including Yellow Springs Farm, The Gecko Group, and Friends of Everhart Park.

Karen recently earned her MFA in Graphic + Interactive Design from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. At Tyler, among numerous awards for her student work and as Director of Publications, Karen received Global recognition from the Society of Experiential Graphic Design SEGD for an interactive public installation called “Me Too, The Empathy Project” which she presented at the SEGD Academic Summit, 2016.

Karen continues to draw on her multidisciplinary skills with a growing a focus on experiential design, a natural extension of her exhibition design background. A long standing West Chester resident and volunteer, Karen is currently channeling her energy into the creation of an interactive experience for the community in the form of an app that explores the champion trees in Everhart Park.

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