I’m an art manager, curator, and advisor. I’m a writer and artist. I’m an advocate for safety and mass shooting survivor. Somehow all these passions mesh into a life aimed at helping others become more enriched, creative, and safe.
Why I’m an Art Advisor
In 2004, I graduated from the College of Santa Fe with a BFA in photography. But really, I wanted to work in gallery and collection management, had I known that term at the time. After working abroad for six months in Bath, England, I returned to Santa Fe to pursue a career. While living in Santa Fe for a total of ten years, I worked in various art galleries, including LewAllen Contemporary and Andrew Smith Fine Art; I worked for art collectors to organize and catalog their collections; I worked with artists to help them digitize and organize their works; and I worked as an assistant to a fine art photography appraiser.
In 2010, I returned to the Denver area where I grew up and looked for similar art jobs. But I didn’t find as strong as an art community in Denver as I’d found in Santa Fe. That definitely is changing now! In 2013, I became the art coordinator of the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. This position involves overseeing one of the largest contemporary Western art exhibitions in the United States.
With a Master’s degree in Gallery Management and Exhibition Specialization from Western Colorado University in Gunnison (online) that I achieved in 2019, I formalized my 20-ish years of knowledge in the art sector. At the same time, I developed an artist in residence program at the National Western Stock Show and began to curate the Young Guns exhibition aimed at young professionals in the Denver area.
Why I’m a Writer, Artist, and Creative
I started writing as a young child. I made up stories all the time in my head, and then I learned to write them down. At the same time, art has always been my passion. Whether I’m watercolor painting in my journal during travel; photographing with my DSLR, film Nikon, or iPhone; or making jewelry, artist books, or metal journals, my creative juices are always flowing.
Why I’m a Self Defense Instructor and Speaker on Safety and the Columbine High School Shooting
In 1999, I was in the cafeteria of Columbine High School when the shooting started. I was a junior at the time, and while I got out of the school unscathed, it has had (and will always have) a profound affect on the rest of my life. I took a self defense course with Resolve (then Impact Self Defense) in Santa Fe in 2006, which changed how I felt walking through the world. In 2017, I became a self defense instructor with Impact Personal Safety of Colorado, helping to teach others that they can indeed be more safe in this world.
For years, I have talked to groups and college classes about my experience at Columbine. It’s logical that the two have merged, and now I speak about my experience at Columbine and teach people to be more safe at work, in schools, and in this world.
Krista Hanley 