At first glance, Heather Stamenov’s paintings depict people interacting with the landscape in playful ways, or responding to natural elements and seasons through athletics. But soon, something uncanny begins to surface. Synchronized swimmers glide through snow in the middle of winter. Aerialists swing from a ski lift chair, suspended in a moment that feels both impossible and strangely familiar. “I want the work to be felt before it’s understood,” Stamenov explains. “The gestures aren’t literal; they’re more about an emotional note or feeling. If someone can explain a painting too quickly, something’s been lost. The strangeness keeps people inside the image a little longer, finding their own connection to it within the visual language and symbols I’m putting together.”

A graduate from the Herron School of Art and Design with an MFA in Painting from the University of Connecticut, Stamenov is a painter and educator who has called Park City home for the past decade. As the Education Director at Kimball Art Center, she has worked with countless Park City residents, infusing her love of the arts into the community. Her impact is most visible in the classrooms behind the gallery, where the walls, tables, shelves, and cabinets are brimming with the creative energy of every teacher and student who has passed through.

In her personal studio, Stamenov works her own visual alchemical magic with oil paint to depict the landscape and the human form. “I grew up in France, and I attribute a lot of my pull toward painting people to that early experience of moving between cultures.”

For Stamenov, the body and landscape exist in relationship to each other. The landscape isn’t a backdrop, it’s active. She builds figures the same way, with blunt planes and color absorbing and reflecting their surroundings. “Body and landscape are two living beings in exchange, shaping each other, not one set against the other,” she says.

Heather Stamenov, “Alone,” 2026, oil on canvas, 16×20 in.

Heather Stamenov, “Diving into Dusk,” 2025, oil on canvas, 48×48 in.

The athletic figures in her paintings are Stamenov’s way of borrowing strength from other women. She’s less interested in the sport itself and more in the gesture beneath it—the act of holding on, like an aerialist, or pushing through, like a swimmer. When the context shifts, the gesture becomes a metaphor for how a person moves through a situation, a challenge, a moment. “Because I’m a woman, that’s the perspective and the body of experience I’m painting from. It’s not a statement about women and athleticism so much as it is my own vantage point on belonging, effort, and endurance.”

There is a wonderful combination of seriousness and humor in Stamenov’s work, a tension she refuses to separate. “A woman swimming through a snow-covered field is a little absurd but also so emotionally true,” she says. “We laugh when we’re uncomfortable, or at least I do. When it rains it pours, or hard things come in threes, and when you look back, things happening all at once can actually make us laugh. What are the chances? Humor is a way of staying in something difficult without collapsing under it.” Stamenov notes that women in particular move through the world with a certain weight. A weight with questions of identity, belonging, and meaning that are deeply personal yet universally felt.

Another compelling aspect of Stamenov’s work is the subtle build-up of drama through visual cues. She pays close attention to the emotional range of human dynamics. “When things are awkward, one might get more theatrical and over the top. We overact to cover up an emotion. Or, maybe the emotion or situation is just that big that it deserves it. Early on, I thought a lot about how we perform for others, whether that’s gender expectations or cultural things.” She continues, “We make choices that aren’t always aligned with how we actually know ourselves. So there’s a dialogue in that. How should I be?”

Heather Stamenov, “Evening Routine,” oil on canvas, 2025, 12 x 20 in.

With influences like Kerry James Marshall, Salman Toor, and Gertrude Abercrombie, it’s no surprise that Stamenov is drawn to painting humans and their relationship to space with such vibrancy and conviction. Painters help us see the human figure at a deeper level; with emotional layers, contradictions, and truths within environments not always perceived by the naked eye.

Stamenov is a true arts advocate and a staple in the Park City community. Since 2017 she has been bouncing around Kimball Art Center, ensuring that education at KAC is deeply felt and that teachers and students are supported. “I started working at Kimball Art Center because I love teaching. I got to do tours of our exhibits with school-aged children and then pair them with art making; see how artists think, let’s try it out. And then it grew into developing programs, connecting with teaching artists, writing curriculum, supporting teachers, visiting with students, and building real relationships and community through art. I get to be creative every day, use my education, learn, grow, and be around art and people. It’s awesome.”

Stamenov intrinsically understands the value of art education and contemporary art literacy because of how profoundly they shaped her own life; and because she’s seen how they shape others. “I love art and creativity, and I want to support it, whether that’s in our schools or for adult learners. I believe every kid deserves creativity as part of their education; it shouldn’t be extra, it should be a given. Creativity and empathy are necessary for their future. I’ve seen so many transformations with students of all ages. Whether they’re building art appreciation skills or studio skills, it always extends outside the space.”

As a specific example, Stamenov describes how teaching drawing helps students notice more in their surroundings, and how discussing contemporary art opens deeper conversations and new perspectives that connect to life beyond the gallery. “It supports a fuller life. The community is so life-giving. Being plugged in and getting to know so many people, there’s such a sense of belonging.”

What she loves most about the Park City art community is its deep sense of connection. “Park City is rad. I love our little mountain town, and you really do end up connecting more with local artists because it’s smaller. Whether it’s through the arts council, the studio and gallery, or the KAC, I’ve gotten to know so many artists here. It’s supportive, and a lot of the work is inspired by and connected to the landscape. Artists here have a lot of hobbies too, we love being outside.”

Stamenov gravitates toward things that are bold, loud, and take up space. That resonance is unmistakable in her paintings. “I am a cheerleader at heart, let’s go! And even in my painting style, I don’t have a softness to me. I love edges. I’m here, see me.”

Heather Stamenov, “Mountain Air,” 2026, oil on canvas, 36×48 in.

Chat with Heather about her paintings, process, and what she’s up to next at Kimball Art Center, or visit her studio during Gallery Stroll at Create PC (https://www.pcscarts.org), generally the last Friday of every month in Park City.

Kasey Lou Lindley

Kasey Lou Lindley is an arts professional with formal training in fine arts, holding a BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design and an MFA from the University of Connecticut. She has written about contemporary arts and culture for Sarasota Visual Art and Art at Bay.