The Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation has selected longtime Islanders Kib and Tess Bramhall as the recipient of its 41st Creative Living Award. The designation has become an annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and community since 1983. The award was created to honor Ruth Bogan who “loved beauty, who loved the Vineyard and who believed ‘anyone can do anything.”

“We are thrilled that Kib and Tess have graciously accepted this well-deserved honor. Their dedication to art, fishing and conservation inspires us all,” said Paul Schulz, Executive Director of the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation.

Kib Bramhall is recognized as one of the most accomplished painters of the Island’s landscapes. He painted his first landscape at the age of 15 in an art class where he discovered a gift for capturing natural beauty. Since his childhood summers in Edgartown, Mr. Bramhall has walked the Island’s shores, meadows and woods and the Vineyard has always been at the center of his artwork. In 1957, he sold his first painting at the Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown. He has since been shown at the Coe Kerr Gallery in Manhattan and the Craven Gallery in Vineyard Haven, and continues to be represented by the Granary Gallery in West Tisbury. 

In addition to being an artist, Kib is an avid and accomplished fly fisherman. He worked for 18 years at the fishing magazine Salt Water Sportsman, where he covered New England’s fishing scene as its advertising director and writer. He is the author of Bright Waters, Shining Tides: Reflections on a Lifetime of Fishing, a collection of 11 essays and 50 paintings about fishing, the camaraderie of fishermen and the fish that he caught or that got away. 

Tess Bramhall has had a lifelong interest in land conservation. Her love of the Vineyard’s natural beauty and her commitment to helping protect were factors in her becoming a board member and then president of Vineyard Conservation Society; a volunteer for the local office of The Nature Conservancy and then a chapter trustee for the organization’s statewide contingent; and a longtime supporter of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and The Trustees of Reservations. She, Edo Potter, Hal Tilghman and Eleanor Graves started the Conservation Partnership of Martha’s Vineyard in 1997 to create a unified voice for Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, Vineyard Conservation Society, The Trustees of Reservations, and The Nature Conservancy. 

In addition to her work in land conservation, Mrs. Bramhall has published two books. The first, Ty Loves Flowers, is a toddler’s environmental awareness picture book dedicated to her grandchildren. More recently she published In Praise of Protected Lands and Special Places on Martha’s Vineyard, which features Island properties that have become public spaces for enjoyment as well as for conservation of natural resources. The book features artwork by Kib as well as other Island artists. 

With the 2024 Creative Living Award, the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation is proud to recognize the Bramhalls’ contributions to the quality of Vineyard life. Their creative talents, actions as environmentalists, and work as mentors have impacted many generations