The Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation has announced Kib and Tess Bramhall as the recipients of the 41st Creative Living Award.
The longtime Islanders will be honored for their contributions as artists, authors, environmentalists, and mentors to generations of Vineyard residents. A celebration where the Bramhalls will be recognized will be held at Grange Hall in West Tisbury on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 5 pm.
Kib Bramhall is known for his landscape paintings capturing the Island. Bramhall sold his first painting to the Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown in 1957, and has since been shown at the Coe Kerr Gallery in Manhattan and the Craven Gallery in Vineyard Haven, and continues to represent the Granary Gallery in West Tisbury.
In addition to his artistic achievements, Bramhall is an accomplished fly-fisherman and author, spending 18 years as advertising director and writer for Salt Water Sportsman magazine. His book, “Bright Waters, Shining Tides: Reflection on a Lifetime of Fishing,” is a collection of 11 essays and 50 paintings, about fishing, the camaraderie it offers, and stories about losing and catching fish.
Tess Bramhall has dedicated her life to land conservation. She is acting president of the Vineyard Conservation Society, and started as a volunteer for the local office of the Nature Conservancy, earning a spot as a chapter trustee for the organization’s statewide contingent. Tess was one of the founders of the Conservation Partnership of Martha’s Vineyard in 1997, which unified the voices of the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, the Vineyard Conservation Society, the Trustees of Reservations, and the Nature Conservancy.
Beyond her conservation work, Tess is the author of two books. “Ty Loves Flowers,” an environmental-awareness picture book for toddlers, and more recently “In Praise of Protected Lands and Special Places on Martha’s Vineyard,” which features Island properties that have become public spaces for enjoyment as well as for conservation of natural resources. The book features artwork by her husband Kib and other Island artists.
“We are thrilled that Kib and Tess have graciously accepted this well-deserved honor. Their dedication to art, fishing, and conservation inspires us all,” said Paul Schulz, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation.
The award was created to honor Ruth Bogan, who “loved beauty, who loved the Vineyard, and who believed ’anyone can do anything.’”
