Kayo Burmon
Kathryn Burmon has been a resident of The Umbrella for over 20 years, where she has worked as a painter and print maker. Her work can be found in many private and corporate collections. She has shown her work widely and is represented by Powers Gallery in Acton, MA. She exhibits frequently in juried shows throughout New England and shows annually in Islesboro, ME where she spends her summers painting.
Prior to joining tThe Umbrella, Kayo worked as an advertising art director and designer. She was an early member of the creative group at Hill, Holliday,Connors and Cosmopulos and went on to Humphrey, Browning and MacDougall before opening the door to Kayo and Company, on Newbury Street. Through the years, she worked on accounts such as S.D. Warren Paper Company and Weyerhaueser Paper Company, The Plaza Hotel, Colombo Frozen Yogurt, Parker Brothers, Bank of Boston and Skinner. For five years, Kayo taught courses in Creative Concepts and Layout and Design at the Art Institute of Boston.
While her two, now grown, children were in school, Kayo used her passion for art to help raise funds for in town projects and volunteered with the Looking at Art Program for the Weston Public Schools as its director, parent trainer, and new curriculum developer. This program is much loved by both parent teachers and the grade school students, who are exposed to great works of art once a month, in the classroom. She also served one year on the board of the Roxbury - Weston Preschool, the longest running voluntarily desegregated educational program in the country. An avid fan of large brained mammals, Kayo has maintained an interest in the protection and understanding of Dolphins and the Great Apes.
Volunteering as a data collector for dolphin research projects culminated in her being named to the board of the Dolphins of Monkey Mia (Australia) Foundation. She is a founding member of The Great Ape World Heritage Species Project.This is an organization that worked with Dr. Richard Wrangham, Dr. Jane Goodall and Richard Leakey toward achieving sustainable protection of all great apes and is now under the auspices of UNESCO. She has worked with both the staff and students at The Kasiisi Project Schools in western Uganda, creating art with the students that has enabled them to make their own personal contributions to this very successful program by the selling of cards featuring their artwork.
Kayo grew up in Indianapolis,Indiana and received a B.F.A. And a B.A. In English at St. Mary's College / The University of Notre Dame. She has furthered her education by attending interest specific courses at several of the colleges in the Boston area and at Il Bisonte, a printmaking school in Florence, Italy. She resides with her husband, David, and Springer Spaniel, Tobermory, in Concord.
