A little bit about me…
Hello! My name is Betony Coons.
I grew up on an apple orchard in the sandhill prairies of Kansas. My parents unschooled my siblings and me. This meant our days were spent out in the fields, filled with experimental learning and making, gratuitous play, and wild exploration - no matter the season.
My upbringing is still very much embodied in how I approach art. Out on the orchard, we made things work when they didn’t. We were taught to dream and use the tools we had. We overcame obstacles and made real what we imagined. Consequently, I am a professional dabbler in all mediums with an insatiable curious streak. I am a collector of art techniques and am tenacious in “finding a way".
Throughout my artwork you’ll find themes of innocence, play, vibrant color, connection, sense of place, exploration, rootedness, the natural world, wholesomeness, presence, growth, the passage of time, and the repetition of universal icons.
The process of making art for me is an uncovering - a finding, a gathering, the pulling of threads, and then weaving them back together. It’s play and pilgrimage.
Curriculum Vitae
Betony Coons
Born 1983, Lyons, KS United States
Currently based in Greeley, CO
Bachelor of Arts, University of Northern CO, USA
Selected Exhibitions
“Bellwether” Atlas Gallery, Greeley, 2017
“Becoming” Atlas Gallery, Greeley, 2015
“Almanac No. 1” Atlas Gallery, Greeley, 2014
“Taste of Art”, Centennial Library, Greeley, CO 2013
“Familiar Saints” Atlas Gallery, Greeley, 2012
“Precarious Connections” Firehouse Art Gallery, Longmont, CO 2012 “Onset” Atlas Gallery, Greeley, CO 2011
“Red,” Everyday Joes, Fort Collins, CO, 2008
“Dreams,” Poudre River Arts Center, Fort Collins, CO, 2008
“Student Show”, Mariani Gallery, UNC, Barbara Leyendecker, Juror, Greeley, CO, 2008 “Sister Show,” Moon House Art Gallery, Waterbury, VT, 2006
Murals
“Middle Sea” - Art Alleyway, Greeley, CO
“Atlas” - Exterior Wall of John Galt Coffee, CO
“Wonders in the Pages” - Riverside Library, Greeley, CO
“Paper Moon” -Denver Children’s Museum, Denver, CO
Tree of Life - Teaching Kitchen Mural
Boys and Girls Club, Greeley, CO
Native Birds - Sandhills Brewing Company, Hutchinson, KS
Sandhill Cranes - Sandhills Brewing Company, Mission Hills, KS
Twelve - Houston Mennonite Church, Houston, TX
We are Dreamers - Utility Box, Greeley, CO
Print Media
Little U Magazine, Spring 2018
Uppercase Magazine, Featured artist, September 2017
Spirituality & Health Magazine, “Overcoming the History and Failings of Papal Infallibility”September 06, 2016
Bandwagon Magazine, Cover Article, 2016
Spiritual Health Magazine, August 2015
Publish 4 Kids
Children’s book “The Stitches Fairy”
Children’s book “Mr. Gibson’s Garden”
Archway Publishing
Children’s book “The Bravest Adventure”
England, Dan, “The Creative Coons,” Greeley Tribune, August, 2012
