Karen Melvin was third prize winner In Open Up North, at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, 2014. She was selected for the Great North Art Affair with the exhibition Borealis at Flowers East Gallery, London in 2005. She received an Arts Council England photography production grant for Paper Dolls in 2004 and a two-year Arts Council England Mentoring Scheme award in 2002. She was artist in residence for the Middlesbrough 2000 Millennium Festival touring to the Millennium Dome, London.
Recent solo exhibitions include Beyond Paper Dolls, Art at 830, Key West, Florida, USA, 2010; Paper Dolls, Myles Meehan Gallery, Darlington, 2005; Constellation, MAC Centre, Birmingham, 2004; and All Heaven and Earth, Tom Blau Gallery, London, 2001; Pride 2000, The Millennium Dome, London. Group shows include Open Up North, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal 2014: Margins, Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, 2013: 28: A Celebration of the Myles Meehan Gallery, Darlington, 2012; Dover Prize, Darlington Arts Centre, 2010.Group shows include Margins, Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, 2013: Inspired, Shepherds Dene, Nthld, 2013: 28: A Celebration of the Myles Meehan Gallery, Darlington, 2012; Points of Conjecture, Duchess Gallery, Kielder, Northumberland, 2012; Dover Prize, Darlington Arts Centre, 2010; Water, Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, 2009; Bridging, Kirkharle Arts Centre and Brisbane, Australia, 2008; Night Thoughts, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 2008; Edge 2, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, 2007, Borealis, Flowers East Gallery, London, 2005; Thinking the Unthinkable, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, 2005; The Unlimited Dream Company, curated by Alistair Robinson, for The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle, 2005: New new new, Kent Gallery, Key West, Fla, U.S.A, 2005.
