Artist Ken Green helped others find a niche

Successful in his own right, the Minneapolis native reached out to young talent and promoted Art Crawl.

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: November 2, 2009 - 8:30 PM

For artist Ken Green, the key to creating a masterpiece was to study the mood and intricate details of a scene, then take his observations and draw them in his sketch book before transferring them to canvas.

That system paid off for the Minnesota-born artist, whose brightly colored oils, watercolors, acrylics, pencil drawings and mixed-media works are displayed in galleries across the United States. His works featuring jazz musicians, dancers, cityscapes and landscapes dot the walls of local office buildings, including American Express and the National City Bank, and have graced the homes of celebrities, including Bob Hope, Paul Anka, Kirby Puckett, Dionne Warwick and Queen Latifah.

His last project was a series of 16 murals based on biblical scenes that he completed in 2008, now on view at St. Peter's African Episcopal Methodist Church at 401 E. 41st St. in Minneapolis.

Green died of cancer Oct. 21 while at the Lodge on Summit Oaks, a hospice center in Burnsville. He was 58.

"He was amazingly talented," said friend and local muralist Ta-Coumba Aiken. "He was a phenomenal illustrator. All his work has special meaning."

While establishing himself as a prolific artist working in the Jax Building in St. Paul's Lowertown, Green always found time to promote other artists and their work. He was president of the board of the St. Paul Art Collective in 2004 and always encouraged new and guest artists to enter their works in the twice-yearly St. Paul Art Crawl, said Robyn Priestly, the collective's executive director.

In recent years he was instrumental in helping the art crawl grow and in the redevelopment of the old Hamm Brewery/Everest Arts & Sciences building on St. Paul's East Side in artists' studios, Priestly said.

Like most artists, Green worked a number of odd jobs to make ends meet and support his family. During his career, he sold insurance, worked as a security guard and as a model in which he appeared in newspaper ads for J.C. Penney's and the former Dayton's department store, said his brother, Les, director of Cultural Diversity at St. Cloud State University. Ken Green also starred in the cable TV movie "Thugs," and the soon-to-be released feature film "Bill's Gun Shop."

Born in Minneapolis, Ken Green began drawing and painting as a student at Central High School. He earned an art degree from St. Cloud State University.

Other interests included fishing and enjoying a meal at Key's Cafe, those who knew him said.

In addition to his brother, Ken Green is survived by his wife, Agnes, of Burnsville; his mother, Bessie Green, of Minneapolis; three daughters, Lisa Dunbar, of Omaha; Britney Green, of Minneapolis, and Ashley Green, of Burnsville; three sisters, Barbara Panser, of Brooklyn Center, Lois Porter, of Rogers and Lauren Green, of New York, and two grandchildren.

Services have been held.

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