Kathy Sturgeon

About Kathy Sturgeon

My path to Liz Moore has been richly circuitous and a bit bizarre. I grew up in Dallas and graduated from SMU with a double major in chemistry and mathematics. Subsequent stops were Los Angeles, where I earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at UCLA, and then Chicago, where I was a post doc at the University of Chicago. It was there I realized science was not answering the big questions I had, so I left and began studying photography at Columbia College. Incidentally, Chicago was also my first exposure to the world of real estate. While in school, I worked part-time at U.S. Equities, one of the major commercial real estate firms in Chicago.  

Next along the way was New York, where I studied and worked at the International Center for Photography, then earned an MFA in photography and the related media from the School of Visual Arts. That was before photography was digital; the "related media" consisted of video and digital imaging.

When I moved to Williamsburg, I taught photography and art history at Virginia Wesleyan College, math at ECPI, and chemistry and women's studies at William & Mary. At the same time, I taught myself to use layout software. Graphic design was never something I studied formally, but, I'd been unconsciously drawn to it since childhood.

I began a temporary position doing graphic design for The Virginia Gazette when one of the regular staff went on maternity leave. Fourteen years later, I left as manager of the Daily Press Media Group design unit to join Liz Moore.

Putting words and images together makes me happy, and I am thrilled to be doing that in the context of this awesome organization.

Other stuff about me:

For a period of about ten years, I ran and biked, did some triathalons and ran a marathon. That phase ended when my knees said, "NO!"

I have been fortunate to travel to some wonderful places: England, France, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland (for an afternoon), Greece, and the Czech Republic, plus lots of areas in the U.S. I hope that list will grow longer.

I am married to Donald Ferguson, a life-long resident of the Peninsula, and we have ten-year old son, named George. I wanted George to have my last name, since Donald already had a son with his last name from his first marriage. Donald agreed, and in return, he got a 50-inch plasma screen TV.

I am grateful to Donae Hendricks for recommending me to Liz, and to Liz and all my coworkers for being so great. Thank you for letting me design for you!