Curt Clonts
Curt Clonts was raised in Wichita, Kansas. He left in 1977 and then lived in Los Angeles where he spent time surfing, making art, and immersing himself in the punk music scene. He then moved to Okinawa, Japan where he met, married his Wife Taeko, and they had the first of their three children. After leaving Japan Curt moved with his family to New Orleans where he started the monthly punk rock musical publication Public Threat, and also created and sold art. Clonts then took a job in the coffee business in Dallas, Texas where he also made and sold his art. After a move to El Paso, Texas Curt then decided to relocate his family to his hometown of Wichita where they have lived since 1991.
After moving back to Wichita, Curt founded the College Hill Coffee Company, which he eventually sold. He then began to paint and create art on a daily basis. Clonts became a member of Wichita's Famous Dead Artists (a Wichita art co-op). He founded Art Soup in which he would curate art exhibitions featuring working artists of the '90s. He co-founded The Tractor Factory, one of the seminal art studio/exhibition sites in Wichita's explosive '90s art scene. Clonts also regularly contributed articles on art and music for Wichita alternative newspapers SEEN and F5.
In 2006 Curt became the Artist-In-Residence at Friends University and held this position until 2013. He also founded The Ginger Rabbits arts co-op during this time. Articles on Curt have been featured in The New Orleans Times-Piccayune, The Dallas Morning News, The Wichita Eagle, Juxtapose Magazine, and Punk Globe Magazine, among others.
Curt's art is included in the collections at The Wichita Art Museum, Emprise Bank, Center For The Arts, and many personal collections.
Curt paints daily in his College Hill home studio while listening to music at blaring decibels. He exhibits his work on a regular basis. He enjoys scotch, cooking, collecting art and books, grandchildren, and having regular coffee and discussing art with artist friends. He has a disdain for politicians, broccoli, and spending any money with national chains. He avoids telephone conversations at almost any cost.
