Extraordinarily adept with the pastel medium, Galligan has the flexibility to create works of varying subject and style. The introspective nature of her work allows each piece to unfold from remembered sights and experiences. She strives to create the feeling of a place, rather than define a particular location. Her thick, patient layering with both hard and soft pastels enables her to get an almost three-dimensional quality to her paintings.
Kathleen Galligan graduated in 1972 from Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania with a B.A. Fine Arts, and in 1979 from Philadelphia College of Art with a B.F.A. Honors. She spent a month at YADDO an artist residency in Saratoga Springs, New York and a two week residency in Acadia National Park in Maine. Her work is in the collection of the Farnsworth Art Museum, Bates College Museum of Art and in many corporate and private collections worldwide. An article about Galligan’s work has been included in The Pastel Journal, February, 2008. In addition, in 2010 she was included in Pratique des Arts a French art journal.