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Letter: Shelton remembered

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Staff

We lost an important and influential member of our community when Karen Shelton died recently. Karen, a painter, conceived of and spearheaded the creation of the 2ndFriday Artwalk, which has become a favored institution here in Carrboro and in Chapel Hill – and for that alone, we are all indebted to her. For years, Karen also owned and ran the Sizl Gallery. There, she created a popular venue for local artists to show and sell their work, sometimes even attracting national media attention.

Helen and I had the privilege of meeting Karen a few years back and will always remember her for her talent, her passion and her commitment to all of us. We will miss her emails with news of her latest paintings and will certainly miss knowing that she is out and about, advocating for art and for our community.
Jesse Kalisher

President, Carrboro Merchants’ Association
Owner, Jesse Kalisher Gallery

3 thoughts on “Letter: Shelton remembered”

  1. Mariangela Crowley Walker says:
    November 27, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    I was really sad shocked to hear that Karen is gone. I had taken some painting classes from her in November 2007, at the bookstore in Southern Village (which is no longer there)and I have been successfully enjoying painting since then. She was a very strong woman in some ways, but also a very truly sensitive spirit… with the artist’s soul. I agree that she added a lot to Carrboro, and the image of her will ever be with me whenever I pass the location of where the Sizl Gallery had been… or probably even when I see a branch with yellow and orange leaves in a glass vase, which was my first painting under her direction.
    I am grateful that I had the opportunity to have interacted wiht her. Since hearing the news of her passing, I have been in the “I wish…” stage (since I just heard a few days ago)… I wish I’d known she was possibly having a hard time of it, and that I could have done something to help her.

  2. Joanna Crell says:
    January 17, 2010 at 11:42 am

    I am stunned and in tremendous grief to hear that Karen Shelton, a woman I loved and admired has died. I have been away in Cuba for the last few years and had lost touch with many persons here in the US , but as I returned and moved here , recently I had hoped to have Karen again in my life. What I lost by waiting cannot be replaced. What the world has lost was a gentle soul driven to be as fierce as she could , and then worn out by the lifes’ trials… I weep knowing she needed peace and joy, her beauty was incredible. god give her a heaven now, and let those who saw her even for a second, remember what she tried to achieve in life.

  3. Suzanne Rose says:
    May 3, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Even though I never met her in person, I deeply admired Karen’s work which I was privy to via her e-mails. In fact, I purchased a painting from her just before she died, but never received it. Does anyone know who I could contact regarding this? A painting of hers would be more meaningful now than ever. Thank you in advance to anyone who could help me out.

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