"a uniquely unselfconscious and infectious example of the vitality and directness of outsider work" — Hank Lee, San Angel Folk Art
Kenneth Karcher was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1960 afflicted with physical and mental limitations resulting from pre-natal injury. Kenneth lived at home attending Montessori classes until he was ten years old. After that he attended special education classes in the North East School Disctrict of San Antonio, graduating from Lee High School Special Education when he was 21. Upon graduation, he elected to move into a group home — River Garden Home in New Braunfels, Texas — to expand his social contacts and experience independence from home and family. He rapidly demonstrated his capacity for greater independence and moved to Mission Road Development Center where he lived in a less controlled group home and worked off campus in a sheltered workshop. Soon Kenneth learned of Dateables, a social organization made up of people with physical and/or mental handicaps. He applied for membership, was invited in, and quickly became an active participant in their social functions. His experiences through Dateables fostered his sense of confidence and soon Mission Road recommended that Kenneth find an even more independent living situation. With the assistance of and under the direction of COIL (Council On Independent Living), Kenneth moved into an apartment of his own in September of 1992. Ever since he has enjoyed the privacy of his own living space and the responsibility of meeting his own needs with minimal assistance from others. Kenneth is dependent on public services which make his living situation viable, especially San Antonio's VIA transportation system for the handicapped, which enables him to go to his downtown studio every weekday.
Kenneth has always demonstrated a talent for drawing and as an adult frequently spoke of his desire to be a professional artist. The first person to take that ambition seriously was his uncle, Alberto Mijangos, who invited Kenneth to work one day a week in his studio as an apprentice. In the spring of 1994 Alberto and Kenneth decided that Kenneth was ready to plan for his own art exhibition. Kenneth began working on a series of paintings for that event and extended his time at the studio to two days a week. He also set up one room in his apartment as a studio, so that he would be able to work on his art even when he was not in Alberto's studio. That first exhibition opened in April of 1996 at the home of Pat and Hall Hammond. Eventually Kenneth started renting his own studio downtown with proceeds from the sale of his paintings. His new studio provides him with the space and privacy he needs to work efficiently, but is still only separated from Alberto's studio by Salon Mijangos, a small gallery space owned by Alberto. He has since exhibited twice at Salon Mijangos (in 1998 and 2000), and once at San Angel Folk Art (in 2004). Having been covered by the San Antonio Express-News, Voices of Art, and other publications, Kenneth Karcher has become a well known outsider artist in San Antonio.
After paying the rent on his studio space and buying art supplies, Kenneth spends his extra income on regular visits to Disneyland and Disney World (primarily the latter), from which he has drawn inspiration for his artwork.