About Kristi

Kristi O'Meara is a surface designer & illustrator based Chicago, IL. She is the founder of design studio and blog, The Patternbase. She received her bachelor of fine arts in 2009 from the Kansas City Art Institute, where she studied painting, design, and fiber arts. Kristi released her first publication, The Pattern Base: Over 550 Contemporary Textile and Surface Designs through Thames & Hudson Publishing in 2015. Her work has been featured in Chicago Magazine, IdN, Cool Hunting, CS | Modern Luxury, and Dutch Elle, among others.

For commissions or creative inquiries:  kristiomeara@gmail.com

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & PUBLIC ART

•  60 Alpha VIP Drop NFT.NYC 2024, Times Square Billboards, New York, NY (2024)
•  MARN Winter Market, Milwaukee Artist Resource Network, Milwaukee, WI (2023)
•  Keep It Crypto, imnotArt, Chicago, IL (2023)
•  HXOUSE WORLD TOUR, Chicago, IL (2022)
•  Printsource, New York, NY (2022)
•  < chi_cAgo> RΞNAISSANCΞ - Chicago’s first PHYGITAL Fashion Exhibition, imnotArt, Chicago (2022)
•  Genesis Party @ NFT.NYC, SZNS x Upshot x Divine Dao x Genie.xyz, New York, NY (2021)
•  CADAF Crypto & Digital Art Fair, CADAF Online, (2021)
•  imnotArt Community Gallery Event #17, Chicago, IL (2021)
•  Marwen Art Fair, Chicago, IL (2021)
•  imnotArt Community Gallery Event #7, Featured Gallery, Cryptovoxels (2021)
•  Chromatic Flow: Yellow, Perla Gallery, Decentraland (2021)
•  F*ck Wall Street Cryptoart Exhibition, Stellabelle’s Museum, Cryptovoxels (2021)
•  Utility Box Wrapping Initiative, Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, Elgin, IL (2020)
•  Activate the Alley, Water Street Studios, Batavia, IL (2020)
•  Prints By Post, Island Farm Press, San Diego, CA (2020)
•  Lighthouses on The Mag Mile, The Chicago Lighthouse, Chicago, IL (2018)
•  Great Ideas of Humanity: Out of the Container, Chicago Design Museum, Chicago, IL (2018)
•  PAZ: Piñatas & Zines, Elastic Arts, Chicago, IL (2017)
•  Over & Over, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, IL (2017)
•  Great Ideas of Humanity: One of a Series, Chicago Design Museum, Chicago, IL (2017)
•  Great Ideas of Humanity: One of a Series, Business of Design Week, Hong Kong (2017)
•  Inspired Art, Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL (2015)
•  Regeneration: The Nature of Transformation, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, Riverwoods, IL (2015)
•  Underground Unseen, FLATS Studio, Chicago, IL (2015)
•  ACTIVATE Chicago, Chicago Design Museum, Chicago, IL (2015)
•  Inspired Art, Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL (2014)
•  BLU, Dispatch Gallery, Chicago, IL (2012)
•  Stream of Consciousness, Dispatch Gallery Chicago, IL (2011)
•  PROCESS: A Group Exhibition, The Plaines Project, Chicago, IL (2011)
•  How Do You Say?, Stairway Art Space, Kansas City, MO (2009)
•  Friendly Faces, Strange Places, Javanaut Cafe, Kansas City, MO (2009)

ARTIST TALKS & APPEARANCES

•  Enter the Metaverse — ‘Fashion Forward’ Panel: Applying Technology to Fashion, MARN, Milwaukee, WI (2023) 
•  TextileX Conversation Series: Gwyn Conaway and Kristi O’Meara, Portland Textile Month, Portland, OR (2021)
• 2017/2018 Surface & Textile Design Trends, Driehaus Business of Fashion Symposium, Chicago, IL (2017)
•  Design Trends in Digital Textile Printing, WTIN North American Digital Textile Conference, New York, NY (2016)
•  What It Means to Be A Textile Designer in 2015, UIC/Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL (2015)
•  Textile & Graphic Design With The Patternbase, UIC/Chicago Design Museum, Chicago, IL  (2015)
•  Discussing Textile Design With The Patternbase, Lincoln Park Apple Store, Chicago, IL  (2015)
•  Visiting Artist, Pattern Design Workshop, Marwen, Chicago, IL (2014)
•  Pattern Design for Printed Textiles and Products (ongoing e-course), Skillshare.com (2013)

PRESS & PUBLICATIONS

•  Newcity Design Issue | Mood: Textiles, page 34, (2020)
•  Industrial Print Magazine| Trend-Driven Prints Designers Look to Digital (2020)
•  Chicago Magazine | Hidden City/Spring Fashion, page 10, 22, 104-115, (2018)
•  Surface Design Association | We Are The Patternbase (2016)
•  Saturate Chicago | Meet The Patternbase (2016)
•  Newcity Design | Liberated Surfaces: The Patternbase is Not Your Grandma’s Design. (2015)
•  Make Works | 10 Designers Who Are Inspiring Us To Start Printing On Fabric (2015)
•  IdN | Vol. 22, No. 2, Collective Studios / Collective Farming for Creatives (2015)
•  The Pattern Base: Over 550 Contemporary Textile and Surface Designs. Released by Thames & Hudson Publishing. (2015)
•  Cover Magazine | Issue 38, page 17, Hands-on Experience (2015)
•  L’Officiel Italia | The Patternbase - Diary - 18.03.2015 (2015)
•  Cool Hunting | The Pattern Base Showcases the Future of Patterns and Beyond (2015)
•  FrizziFrizzi | The Pattern Base: A Book With Over 550 Patterns Created by the Best Designers in the World (2015)
•  Stir | Sherwin-Williams | Color by the Pixel: How a Chicago Digital Textile Design Studio is Creating New Ways for Designers to Work With Color (2015)
•  Publishers Weekly | The Pattern Base: Over 550 Contemporary Textile and Surface Designs (2015)
•  Selvedge Magazine | Pattern Books: Inspiration in Print (2015)
•  CS | Modern Luxury, page 109 | Best In Design/Fresh Prints  (2015)
•  VAMMAG | Presents #VAMinfluencers (2014)
•  MESH Magazine | Digital Textiles: How The Patternbase Makes The Tactile Clickable (2014)
•  KCAI Advancement & Alumni Relations | LOVE PATTERNS: A Conversation with Kristi O’Meara (‘09 painting) of The Patternbase. (2014)
•  WGSN homebuildlife | The Patternbase: Tumblr, Website, Book.  (2012)

GRANT AWARDS

•  RabbitHole NFT Partnership (2022)
•  DCASE IAP Creative Projects Grant (2018)
•  DCASE IAP Creative Projects Grant (2015)
•  Propeller Fund Grant (2014)

EDUCATION

•  Kansas City Art Institute | 2009 | Bachelor of Fine Arts | Painting, Design & Fiber Arts