Person of the Week: Dara Kane
Bronxville artist and teacher Dara Kane, has experienced the world of so called “success,” but decided that for her, true success is being happy.
By Monica Orbe, December 14, 2011
“When it all comes together and it fits, it’s exciting to me,” she explains.
Dara says she enjoys the idea of putting all the pieces together, especially the accessibility, since collage is an art form that doesn’t require a lot of expensive or hard to attain items. This is evident through Dara’s use or reuse of materials to create her pieces.
Modern, graphic and contemporary are the words she uses to describe her aesthetic.
She pursues the regular methods of getting her work seen, such as gallery shows, while also selling work through her page on Etsy and is currently one of ArtsWestchester’s featured artists.
Being a mother and artist in Westchester has proven a challenging and rewarding endeavor. But this was not always her life.
Her early life was spent working her way up the ladder.
As an artist in her twenties and fresh out of design school she put her interests in art to work for the home furnishings and fashion world by producing designs for the likes of Tommy Hilfiger Home and Nautica.
Honing her skills in the fashion world proved to be an educational experience in more ways than one.
During this time in her life, Dara witnessed her designs being displayed not in a gallery, but in a garment as she created original fabric patterns and packaging designs.
Although she achieved a seemingly successful life, there was something missing. Dara had an experience which forever changed her direction and helped her become aware of her inner desires for something different…something more. She had her son.
Dara says that after this moment she had an epiphany about her life, where she was and where she wanted to be.
She decided she wanted to go back to her creative roots – leaving the high-paced, high-stress world of fashion, thus spawning her new life as an art teacher and freelance artist in Bronxville.
“When I decided to go back into the work force, I really tried to figure out a way that I could use my art background,” says Dara about this time in her life.
She now lends her talents to the children of Westchester through teaching art at the Bronxville After School Club and Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale (for the Summer Arts Program). She has also taught art workshops for several public libraries including ones in Tuckahoe, Bronxville and Mount Vernon.
Molding the lives of Westchester’s children has proven to be rewarding.
As a self-described “art educator” she says she enjoys interacting with young people and “sharing [her] love of art,” while “being a role model.”
For the past three years Kane has been diligently working towards getting her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Manhattanville College, which she just recently attained.
And she did this all while still pursuing her own personal artistic goals.
Dara’s life is an expression of how true success should be defined not by society’s rules, but by what your heart tells you. She did not let the fear of changing her life hold her to a place that felt inauthentic and unrewarding.
And that is a life lesson that we can all learn from.