Gretchen Kramp

Who is Gretchen Kramp?

Gretchen Kramp received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan in 1991. After majoring in painting, she apprenticed herself to a local ceramicist. In the mid-1990s, her tiles were represented in the ceramic collection at the Biddle Gallery in Wyandotte, Michigan, the Dancing Eye Gallery in Northville, Michigan. In 1997, she started Gretchen Kramp Ceramic Tiles, producing single art tiles, art tile sets, murals constructed of tiles of multiple sizes and shapes, and tile tables.

Kramp's murals have become popular features at Detroit Zoological Park. In 2000, she produced a mural for the entrance of the National Amphibian Conservation Center at the Detroit Zoo. In 2002, she installed a similar work at the entrance of the Nunavut Gallery in the zoo's Arctic Ring of Life exhibit. The eight-foot by ten-foot mural is constructed of more-than 650 iridescent and matte tiles. An immense polar bear stands under the motto NUNATSIAQ, which means "the beautiful land" in Inuit. In 2009, she installed a large wall mural of the tree of life at the Children's Hospital in Detroit.