“I am very much an American artist–a do-it-yourselfer who has spent a lifetime creating performances as well as containers – community art spaces, newspapers, touring networks, residencies, dialogue forums and funding alternatives.
This bootstrap mentality has had a profound impact on the nature of my work and the course of my career.” -KT
Along with her own artistic trajectory, KT’s career has always included creating spaces, programs and platforms for other artists to pursue their work.
From 1993-98 she was the co-founder and editor of DanceNet Seattle – a monthly publication dedicated to contemporary dance providing calendar listings, historical content, essays, reviews and critical dialogue.
From 1996-2006 she and co-founder Michele Miller opened Velocity Dance Center, which has become one of the preeminent contemporary dance-training center on the West Coast. Together they created a comprehensive adult curriculum for beginners to professionals as well as a series of programs supporting the creation of new work, including the Strictly Seattle Summer Dance Intensive, The Bridge Project, Under Construction, NEXT Dance Festival and The Guest Artist Series.
In 2003 she created the SCUBA, National Touring Dance Alliance with Seattle (Velocity), San Francisco (ODC), Minneapolis (The Southern Theater) and Philadelphia (Philly Dance Project). Thanks to the next generation of dedicated staff, both Velocity and SCUBA are still running strong today.
She has served on panels for USArtists International and the National Endowment for the Arts and adjudicated the American College Dance Festival multiple times. In 2002, she was an invited artist delegate to the think-tank retreat at White Oak sponsored by the Doris Duke Foundation. Her work there helped lay the platform for the 2004 Pacific Northwest Regional Dance Lab.
In 2011, Ms. Niehoff opened an art space and event venue in Seattle called 10 degrees in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. After years of working in the non-profit sector, KT created 10 degrees with the idea to use its commercial potential to serve the space’s ultimate goal: subsidized episodic creative residencies for performance artists. The synergy between special event rentals and resident artists has created a financially sustaining space for art making in one of Seattle’s most financially competitive neighborhoods. Recent and current artists in residence at 10 degrees include Jody Kuehner, Jessica Jobaris, Heather Kravas, Salt Horse, Shannon Stewart and Peggy Piacenza. 10 degrees also regularly partners with Velocity Dance Center for workshops and program space.
Drawing on inspiration from her own time spent in residencies at Centrum Washington and Marfa Texas, KT and her husband are currently designing and renovating an 1888 building in Waitsburg, Washington – a city (pop. 1,200) in the Southeast corner of Washington State near Walla Walla. The end goal is a boutique hotel and artist residency space where artists can create magic and mayhem.