Winter Park is proud to claim nationally acclaimed artist,  Karen Vance,  as one of its local treasures.  She has created the paintings for the 1994-2008 Winter Park Resort Posters, plus numerous landscape paintings of  the  beautiful Winter Park/Fraser Valley  and Rocky Mountains  that she calls "home".  Currently Karen is working on a commission for the 5 Star Devil's Thumb Ranch, located in the Winter Park/Fraser area, that includes 100+ paintings for the new lodge, that opened in December 2007.

In recent years, she has gained notoriety in the National Art scene, with participation and winning awards in these venues:  Best of Show, Publishers Choice Award from the Editor of Plein Air Magazine and People's Choice Award,  from the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Show;  Juror's Honorable Mention and People's Choice Award at the  Buffalo Bill Cody Show and Auction in Cody, Wyoming, People's Choice-Best Painting at the C.M. Russell Show, in Great Falls Montana, and  Best of Show - Nomades Del Arte, Santa Fe, NM.  Vance is a Member of the National Art Club, California Art Club, a  Signature Member of the National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters, Emeritus Signature Member of Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters, and Master Signature Member of American Women Artists.  Yosemite National Park has also awarded Karen with a residency and exhibit for the year 2007-2008. Karen's painting, "Winter in the North Platt River Valley" was chosen in Spring of 2008 for part of The University of Denver's permanent collection.

Inform Art Magazine has featured her work on the cover of the 2006/2007 Winter issue with an article by editor Peggy Kinstler.  She was featured in Art of the West Magazine:  Karen Vance: "A Sense of Intimacy" - 2006 January/February, in Southwest Art Magazine's article: "A Natural Calling" by Norman Kolpas, February 2005, and in the book, Enchanted Isle: The History of Plein Art Painting on Santa Catalina Island, available through Art of the West Magazine.  A newly released book,  Landscapes of Colorado – Mountains and Plains, under the curatorship of Ann Daley, Curator of American Art - Denver Art Museum, and Michael Paglia, Art Critic of Westword,also features Karen's paintings in the book and on it's front cover.

Up and coming shows  in 2008 include: Settlers West American Miniatures Show, Tucson, AZ, in January; the C.M. Russell Show and Auction, Great Falls, MT, in and Nomades Del Arte, Sage Creek Gallery, in March; Landscape Show - Abend Gallery, Denver, CO, in August; Buffalo Bill Cody Show and Auction, in Cody, WY, in September;  The Bradford Brinton Museum's Invitational Big Horn, WY in September;  Coeur d'alene Galleries Miniatures by the Lake Coeur d'alene, ID, and Howard/Madveill Gallery Small Works Show, Kirkland, WA, in October,  American Art in Miniature - Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK, in November;  Salon du Musee, Gallery 1261, Denver, CO, in November,  and the American Women Artists Show at Gallery Gabrie, Pasadena, CA; Abend Gallery's Holiday Miniature Show, Denver, CO; and Legacy Gallery's Miniature Show, in Scottsdale, AZ,  Elk Horn Gallery - Small Works Show, in December.