Karen Fiene has been practicing in the Bay Area since 1982 and has worked with both small and large design firms including EHDD. In 2000 she opened an architectural consulting practice with a focus on higher education and exhibit design. This led to an opportunity to join historic Mills College as Campus Architect where Karen guided major renovation projects as well as campus sustainability efforts until retiring in 2022.

Over the last 20 years Karen has studied watercolor and paints primarily plein air in and around the Bay Area. Her paintings often focus on historic structures and campus settings as well as industrial and maritime locations.

Karen is a member of the California Watercolor Association and has recently shown her work at LyndonDesign Gallery at The Sea Ranch, and at Fort Ross State Historic Park.

Experience

2006-2022 Campus Architect, Mills College, Oakland CA 

2000-2005 Karen Fiene Architects, Berkeley, CA 

1987-1999  Esherick Homsey Dodge & Davis, San Francisco, CA

1982-1986 Tanner & VanDine Architects, San Francisco, CA

1982 San Francisco Architecture & Urban Design Studio, San Francisco Art Institute 

1982 Bachelor of Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Gallery Shows | Events | Awards

2016-2019  Sunday Afternoon Watercolor Society Annual Exhibit, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2022-2023 Annual Frank Bette Plein Air Paint Out, juried participant; Frank Bette Center for the Arts Gallery, Alameda, CA; Recipient of the En Plein Air Pro Award for Alameda Afternoon,

2023  Mendocino Arts Open Paint Out
Mendocino Arts Center Gallery, Mendocino, CA

2023 LyndonDesign Gallery, The Sea Ranch, CA Sea Ranch Wanderings

2023 Fort Ross State Historic Park Visitor’s Center, Fort Ross, CA, A Moment in Time

2023 California Watercolor Association, juried into the 54th National Exhibition for Blake Garden, Kensington

2024 Center for Architecture+Design, San Francisco, Urban Perspectives | The City and Beyond