Born in Quincy, Illinois, Kathryn Cherry became one of the most prominent artists in Saint Louis in the early 20th century.  She painted landscapes, marine scenes, and floral still lifes in an impressionist style.  She began her formal art education at the Saint Louis School of Fine Arts and then studied with Richard Miller at the New York School of Arts and Hugh Breckenridge at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  She also studied under the ceramicist Marshall Fry at Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art.   A lifelong learner, Cherry continually refined her craft by collaborating with some of the leading artists of her day, including Arthur Wesley Dow, William Merritt Chase, and St. Louisan Dawson Dawson-Watson, among others.

Cherry started her career as an artist working with porcelain and painted mostly floral subjects.  At the 1904 World's Fair, she won the only gold medal awarded to a woman.  Beginning 1908, she showed her work regularly at the Saint Louis Artist's Guild, and she was included in numerous exhibits at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Cherry maintained a commitment to education throughout her career.  In 1909, she accepted a teaching position in china decoration at the Art Academy of the American Woman’s League in University City, Missouri.  Cherry taught at University City from 1909-1911, some of the University City Pottery’s most prolific years, and came to be recognized as one of the leading educators in china painting and decoration in the United States.  In 1915, she became the head of the art department at Principia Junior College Academy and at this point, she turned from painting on porcelain to florals on canvases.  She also painted scenes at Gloucester, Massachusetts where she spent her summers in her Rocky Neck studio.

Kathryn most enjoyed operating with a full-spectrum palette featuring bright and cheerful colors in her impressionistic paintings.  Her painting possesses a rich, tapestry-like blend of colors reminiscent of the French Nabis painting and her work was highly influenced by the French Impressionist painters of the nineteenth century including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Edgar Degas.