Karen Dusenbery
 |
2016
Karen Dusenbery
Fine Arts
Class of 1971
Karen Dusenbery, class of 1971, went from the halls of Beatrice High School to seeing Ringo Starr wear the hand-painted coat she designed on stage. Other clients include Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Madonna, Che, Sheryl Crow, Tina Turner, Kate Hudson,l Raquel Welch, Emmylou Harris, Rod Stewart, and Muhammad Ali.
After graduating from high school Dusenbery attended Washington University in St. Louis and then moved to Los Angeles, California. She became the art director for Nehi/Peaches Records. Later she became a freelance artist in graphics, textile design, and illustration, and painted commissioned murals and portraits.
In the early 1990 and the advent of MTV, she formed her own company, Duse Productions, and began designing clothing for luminaries of the music world. Dusenbery said, “This job has involved working in the trenches of dozens of videos, commercials and photo shoots.” She has also helped to create the visual signatures for the broad range of artists icons. Her primary focus has been designing stage wardrobes for their musical tours, stage, and theatre. Her designs employ texture color, and a sense of movement that comes together to marry the present with the past, invoking the spirit of individuality and inviting transformation.
Two of her designs are currently on display and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum including the white velvet coat designed for Robin Zander of Cheap Trick for their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Tribute and the black velvet poppy suit designed for Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.
Operating from her studio at the mouth of Laurel Canyon, Karen is currently practicing alternative healing modalities, creating a line of pet accessories, and continues to change the world one pant leg at a time according to her website.