March 2025

February 2025

January 2025

Karen Bagnard - Kudos

Karen Bagnard has been an active member of Pasadena Village since 2016 and a contributor for her entire membership. She continues her active membership in the Village and earns her kudos for her recent and continuing contributions.

•     Chairs the Inclusivity committee and was directly involved in reaching out to the LGBTQ community, to include them in our community. Her efforts have resulted in several new Village members to date and the formation of an LGBTQ Affinity group that is meeting regularly.

• Co-chairs the Cultural Committee, currently leading the Member Connections and Creative Connections events.

•      Karen started and manages an affinity group Spirit Talk, which meets on Saturdays, twice a month to discuss spirituality and the role it plays in our lives. 

•      Regularly sponsors outdoor, in person social events in her patio from "cornbread and coffee" for her memoir-writing group, to "wine and cubism," to campfires. , contributing to the effort in the Village to “recover from COVID” by encouraging more social interaction.

•       Served on the Membership committee, which she formerly chaired and participates in membership activities, coordinating the activities of that committee with the Inclusivity committee. 

•       Initiated and managed an affinity group, VIPs, as a support group for individuals dealing with impairment of any type, initially focusing on visual impairment, which she also experiences personally. This group sponsored presentations by representatives of the Braille Institute, DMV and the City of Pasadena and coordinated for a time with a similar group with a Village from Claremont. This group is currently inactive.

•     Actively deals with issues that visual artists encounter when visual impairment becomes a problem. In that way, Karen provides an example of positive approach to dealing with aging issues, that is an Ethos of the Village Movement

•        Karen has been a frequent contributor to the Meanderings blog, sharing her thoughts about life in her creative way. She makes our website a richer environment for Villagers and non-Villagers alike.

•     Karen participated in a special group film-making through the Echo Park Film Center with 6 other members who learned to create personal videos that were then featured in the First Annual Film Festival held at the Village.

•       As a professional visual artist, recently designed the 2022 holiday card for Braille Institute, a local organization that offers a wide range of free services to people in the Los Angeles area with visual impairment.

•       Also, as a visual artist, Karen works with the city of Pasadena teaching a children's art class, "Coloring Outside the Lines," as well as an Adaptive Art class for developmentally delayed adults.

• Karen’s connections in the community have brought the Pasadena Village to various community events, Adaptive Sports Festival, Sunshine Festival at the Assistance League, Altadena Guild Home Tour, Altadena’s PRIDE Walkabout and, soon, Hispanic Heritage Festival and Parade in Pasadena.

•        Reinstated a monthly Brown Baggers ( formerly BYOB, Bring Your Own Brown Bag) affinity group an in person social gathering that meets at a public park, as a part of the “escape from COVID,” initiatives in the Village.

Karen is a person of high energy and a generous exuberant spirit who embodies the best values in the Village Movement. Kudos to Karen!