Our Founder, Alice Carney Left a Legacy

2009-09-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Multimedia Artboard was started out of necessity in a garage in Redmond, WA in 1985, just a stones throw away from another, somewhat more famous Redmond, WA start up company called Microsoft

Alice Carney, who after graduating from UCLA in 1946 with an art degree, wanted to become an artist. She was able to travel to Europe and the Far East over the years to study and hone her artistic skills.

In 1981 she was one of the founding members of the Sandstone Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. That gallery in now in its 28th year of showcasing some of the finest artists in California.

However by the mid 1980's Ms. Carney had started to develop arthritis in her hands, to a point where it became almost impossible for her to stretch canvas by herself. Becoming increasingly frustrated in having to ask her fellow painters for help in doing such a simple task, she decided there had to be another way. It is important to note that in the mid 80's that the availability of pre-stretched canvas was not as readily available as it is today.

Alice decided to approach the situation from a different point of view. She knew what surfaces were available for the artists, but more importantly she knew the common complaints that most artists had those surfaces. She considered these issues as she went about creating a new surface. Her goal was to create a surface that would be much more versatile, a material that could be used on both sides, a material that would not buckle, tear, or curl, a material that would stay dimensionally stable, like a board, but accept all sorts of different mediums like a paper would. After much trial and error and a lot of testing, with the help of her husband, T.C. Carney, Multimedia Artboard was born.

What the Carneys created is an archival material, which is very light weight, easy to cut, can be used on both sides, and is very durable. A material that an artist could use for oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolors, collage, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, virtually any medium available to today's vast array of artists.

2010 will mark the 25th anniversary of Multimedia Artboard. Today the tradition within this family-owned business continues. We will always remember Alice, who was motivated by a simple desire to pursue her passion as an artist. She called her product "The Simple Solution." The company, Multimedia Artboard, has become known for its award winning art material that is used by artists and teachers around the world. Read what artists are saying. http://www.multimediaartboard.com/Gallery.php

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Our Founder, Alice Carney Left a Legacy