My name is Kasey Johnston. I am the lead artist, Founder and Executive Director at Gild Studios. I created this studio as a way to share art as vocation and career. I love art and people- what better way to combine these than bring art to people. I am obsessed with humor in juxtapositions, creating wonder through mundanity and using community as a catalyst for inspiring creativity. Every time I begin to identify with an aesthetic or conceptual direction, a teeny rebellion stirs and I am drawn to its opposite. In exploring uncertainties, a spiritual element arises. I hope that my art and teaching effectively communicates these ideas.

Gild Studios Origin

I named Gild Studios from the technique of gilding- adding gold to the surface of objects. Gilding makes items shiny but does not increase their monetary value. It is sometimes considered misleading, tacky, unnecessary and needlessly indulgent. Similar to Gilding- art takes mundane parts of life and adds a little gold sprinkle. Art is entirely superfluous yet visually ubiquitous to the way we experience and exist in every part of our lives.

I incorporated Gild Studios as a nonprofit organization in September 2024 after leaving a corporate job to pursue my life’s vocation. I have worked in trades, sales, academia and am now committing my menagerie of skills to uplifting the community around me through art. I encountered the book “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us” by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, my eyes were opened to the tangible positive impact art has on our bodies, brains, behavior and communities. The research therein empowered and justified my heart’s desire to take the leap into creating and sharing art.