Kira Appelhans grew up in the idyllic state of Idaho, which she left at a young age to join the grit and grind of the east coast. Returning to the west after a few years as a ballet dancer, she earned her undergraduate degree in Landscape Design from Colorado State University. She then went on to earn a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. While there she was also introduced to printmaking and developed a life long addiction.
Post graduation, she spent three years working for the New York based firm Balmori Associates. She was the lead designer on projects and competitions both in and out of the US and was made an associate in the spring of 2008. She left the firm in early 2009 pursue a teaching opportunity at the University of Texas, Ausitn and printmaking residency at the MacDowell Colony. She was a team member on the Rising Currnets design charette the results of which are on exhibit at MoMA through October 2010. You can read an interview about her working process here. Kira is a managing editor for the landscape art and urbanism website Topophilia. She lives, works and makes in Nashville, TN.
To contact her write kira (at) working-earth.com.