Artist Statement

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My work is centered around family, including my ancestors, whose guidance and protection surround me at all times. Some of my work depicts actual family members and attempts to capture the moments that all families know – that of the embrace or warmth of sisters proudly standing together, or nieces and uncles horsing around. Others combine those images with glimpses of the ancestors, and their subtle or not so subtle conversations about their embrace of the living. Other work draws only from the spiritual plane, with manifestations of guardians, protectors, tricksters and other entities who appear without forethought in the act of painting. Sometimes they reflect specific spiritual traditions from family roots, and others combine African and American traditions in ways that capture the essence of our African American ancestry.

I hope that viewers are able to see something of themselves and those they love in each painting, be it in the glance of one eye, the bend of a knee and an elbow, the smile on a face elated or the absences of human form where animals convey similar glances. Simply put, they serve as a reminder of the reflections of spirit and soul.

In 1982 I began making dolls. Within the year, Faith Ringgold recommended me for inclusion in a major national magazine. I make OOAK dolls using materials collected over the years on five continents. I’ve used different clay bodies, but mostly use Japanese paper clay. Combining hard and soft, ornamental and structural, I employ leather, raffia, bones, fabric, semi-precious stones, recycled fur, wood, beads and bells, found objects, paint, etc.

I create a cacophony of semiology beginning with faces, heads, hands and feet. I select the first element that calls to me, which is taken from concept to completion. The first finished doll becomes the Spirit of the Table.

I assemble them in related stages, based on needed materials. Sometimes, I sketch out ideas for dolls, indicating specific colors, and materials. Each one completed leads to the next, comprising the family of the Spirit of the Table.

I leave visible stitches and knots because my dolls reflect our flawed humanity - constructed out of whole cloth and assembled in a mishmash of language, identity, family, culture, emotion, and spirituality; and they reinforce the hand/craft connection with each doll.

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Artist Biography

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Kimberly Camp began her career as a professional artist over 50 years ago. Since then, her paintings and dolls have been shown throughout the US in over 100 solo and group exhibitions. Her list of exhibitions is extensive, including the American Craft Museum, Smithsonian Institution, International Sculpture Center, University of Michigan, the Hand Workshop, Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts, and Manchester Craftsman’s Guild.

Her work has been prominently featured in traveling exhibitions including “Spirit of the Cloth: African American Quilters”, for the Craftery Gallery; “Touch: Beyond the Visual”, for the Arlington Art Center, VA; and “Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects” for the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Ohio. In February 2020, Camp’s dolls debuted at the prestigious American Craft Council show, where she received the Award of Excellence: Craft Makes Us Human.

Camp’s workshops and residencies include the Baltimore Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Longwood Gardens, the Smithsonian Institution, the African American Museum Philadelphia, and Indiana University, Pennsylvania. Her paintings and dolls are in the collections of Anne Wollman, Faith Ringgold, Judith Jamison, the Reader’s Digest, Manchester Craftsman’s Guild and the J.B. Speed Art Museum. Additionally, she has been featured in Essence, Nouvel Objet, the New York Times, FiberArts, National Geographic World, the Village Voice and Smithsonian.

Camp has served internationally as a panelist and speaker for the National Black Arts Festival, National Endowment for the Arts; the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Foundation International Arts Program; and the arts councils of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and New Jersey, to name a few.

She has received numerous awards including two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, the Kellogg National Leadership Program Fellowship, Smithsonian International Travel fellowship as Visiting Scholar for Tokyo Gedia University, and the Roger L. Stevens Award for Contributions to the Arts and Culture from Carnegie Mellon University. Camp received the 2020 Award of Excellence from the American Craft Council for her debut at their Baltimore show.

Camp, a native of Camden, NJ pursued a dual career as president and CEO of The Barnes Foundation, founding director of the Smithsonian Institution Experimental Gallery, and president and CEO of the Charles Wright Museum in Detroit. From 2005-2011, she led the creation of a science, technology and natural history project, the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center, in Washington state. Her work as an artist and administrator puts her ideas about the role art plays in democracy, social equity and diversity into practice.

Ms. Camp received her BA from the University of Pittsburgh and her MS from Drexel University. In 2013, she opened Galerie Marie in Collingswood NJ, which features Camp’s paintings and dolls, and work by 200+ artists from around the world.

Currently, Camp serves as a curator for A New View Camden public art project, as adjunct faculty at Drexel University and Rutgers University. She consults for non-profit organizations on strategic planning, leadership transition and best practices in governance.

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Education

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Gallup Leadership Institute
Certificate Program

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
MS, Arts Administration

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
BA, Studio Art and Art History

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Awards & Honors

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2020
2020 Award of Excellence: Craft Makes us Human, American Craft Council 2020

1999
Roger L. Stevens Award for Contributions to the Arts and Culture, H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

1994
Spirit of Detroit, Detroit City Council

Award of Distinction, Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation

1988
Purchase Award, J.B. Speed Art Museum/ Louisville Chapter Links, Inc.

1986
Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Achievement in Painting

New Jersey State Senate Citation

Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission Award "Builders of the Community"

1985
Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Achievement in Painting

Association of Negro Business and Professional Women Community Service Award

1984
National Conference of Artists National Service Award

City of Camden Arts Achievement Award

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Bibliography

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2008
Forbes, Dennis, "Studios and Workspaces of Black American Artists"

Select media interviews
NBC Today, CNN Headline News, CBS Sunday Morning, ZDF, National Public Radio, City TV Ontario, Fox Broadcasting, Washington Post, Washington Times, Voice of America, Nyheterna; Nick News, MSNBC, New York Times, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, U.S. News and World Report, and other local, regional, national and international media outlets.

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Works Published In

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Essence
The Baltimore Sun
National Geographic World
Horizon
Pitt Magazine
The Philadelphia Tribune
The New York Times
The Courier Post
Shooting Star Review
The Village Voice
Apprise Magazine
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Dallas Morning Star
Artspeak
Washington Flyer
Roanoke Times and World News
FiberArts
American Crafts Council newsletter
The Crafts Report
Smithsonian Magazine
Ebony
Diverse Issues in Higher Education

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Collections

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J.B. Speed Art Museum Manchester
Craftsman's Guild Reader's Digest
Camden Historical Society Cynthia Reese
Private collections throughout the United States

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Professional Experience

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Cooper’s Ferry Partnership/City of Camden NJ, Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts
Curator, A New View Camden

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Adjunct faculty, Visual Arts Management, Antoinette Westphal College of Design and Media Arts Administration MS program

2013 - Present
Galerie Marie, LLC, Collingswood, NJ
President

2015 - 2016
Lincoln University, Oxford, PA
Senior Lecturer

2007 - 2011
CEO Richland Public Facilities District
Hanford Reach Interpretive Center

1998 - 2005
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, PA
President and CEO

1994 - 1998
Museum of African American History (MAAH), Washington, DC
President

1989 - 1994
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Director, The Experimental Gallery

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Special Projects

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2005 - 2007
Pennsylvania Council for the Arts
Consultant, Strategies for Success Program

2005 - 2006
The Freelon Group for Wachovia Bank
Consultant for program planning for the new Afro American Cultural Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

2005
Acadia Summer Arts Program, Bar Harbor, ME
Artist in Residence

1997 - 2000
Kellogg National Leadership Program
Fellow

1992
The Getty Center for Education in the Arts Discipline Based Arts Education and Cultural Diversity, Barton Creek, TX
Facilitator

1991
Japan Ministry of Construction/Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
Visiting Research Scholar

1986
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Presenter, "King's Gap Symposium on Art History and Art Aesthetics in the Field of Arts Education", African Retentions in Early African American Culture and Ritual Published 1987

1982 - 1986
City of Camden, NJ Art Annual
Curator, Coordinator and Juror

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Collections

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J.B. Speed Art Museum Manchester
Craftsman's Guild Reader's Digest
Camden Historical Society Cynthia Reese
Private collections throughout the United States

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Panelist

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2009
National Endowment for the Arts
Panelist, American Recovery Act Panel for Museums

2006
National Endowment for the Arts
Museum Program

1996
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
"Art and the Black Aesthetic"

1994
Crafts and Ethics, American Crafts Council/Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts

1993
Institute of Texan Cultures, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX
University Conference on Multiculturalism in the United States, with Arthur Schlesinger, Cornel West, Jorge Klor de Alva and Carlos Cortes

Smithsonian Institution Resident Associates Program and Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, Washington, DC
"The Shape of Things to Come: The Impact of Commerce and Technology on the Arts"

Bridge to Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
"African Influence in African American Visual Arts"

Howard University, Washington, DC
Fourth Annual James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art, "Out of Invisibility: Interpreting and Redefining African American Cultural Expression in the Crafts"

National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
"Women in the Craft Arts"

1992
National Endowment for the Arts
Panel chair, Commissioning and Presenting Program

National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
"Women in the Arts: Building Community in a Time of Crisis

1991
National Endowment for the Arts
InterArts Program, New Forms

1990 - 1992
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC
Arts in Education Projects

1990
Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
"The Representation of Self and Others"

Delaware Arts Council, Wilmington, DE
Meeting on Cultural Diversity (lecture)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Training Workshop, "Cultural Diversity in Museums"

School 33, Baltimore, MD
"Cultural Apartheid"

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Workshops‍

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Doll Making

Baltimore Museum of Art, MD
Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, PA Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Baron College, Philadelphia, PA Longwood Gardens, Chester, PA
Winchester Public Schools, Winchester, VA Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis, MD Camden Historical Society, NJ
Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Museum, Washington, DC Smithsonian Institution Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC Harrison Museum of African American Culture

Exhibitions

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Solo

2007 - 2008
Stories: Paintings and Dolls by Kimberly Camp, African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA

2006
African American Dolls by Kimberly Camp, Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Dallas, TX
Curator: Philip Collins, Chief curator, African American Museum, Dallas, TX

1996
Solo Exhibition, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

1994
Solo exhibition, CRT/Craftery Gallery, Hartford, CT

Solo exhibition, Harrison Museum of African American Culture, Roanoke, VA

Solo Exhibition, International Sculpture Center Emerging Forms Series, Washington, DC

1993
Fabric Figures, Art Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA
Curator: Mark Scala

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Group

2024
Doll, Idols, and Ideals, InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2012
Freedom to See Ourselves, Washington State University, Richland, WA
Invited Artist

2011
Happy Matters, Arts Extended Gallery, Detroit, MI
Featured Artist

2009
Women Who Walk the Path, Washington State University, Richland, WA

2008
African Turnabout, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Icebox Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1996
World/Image: Bookworks, National Conference of Artists, Detroit, MI

Non-Traditional Dolls, Ohio Crafts Museum, Columbus, OH

1995 - 1996
International Women's Art, World Bank Art Society, World Bank, Washington, DC

1995
Hand Me Downs: Innovation Within A Tradition, Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte, NC

1993 - 1995
Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy of African American Craft Art
Curator: Willis Bing Davis, National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, OH
Traveling exhibition: American Craft Museum, NY, NY; African American Panoramic Experience, Atlanta, GA; Museum of Afro-American Life and Culture, Dallas, TX; Afro- American Fine Art Museum, San Diego, CA; Renwick Gallery of American Crafts, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Spirit of the Cloth: African American Quilters
Curator: Edjohnetta Miller, CRT Craftery Gallery, Hartford, CT
Traveling exhibition: American Museums of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA; National Afro-American Museum, Wilberforce, OH; Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Dallas, TX; Quiltworks '93, Louisville, KY; Frank Hale Cultural Center, OH

1993 - 1994
Touch: Beyond the Visual
Curators: Angela Adams, National Museum of Women in the Arts; Paula Owen, The Hand Workshop, Richmond, VA
Traveling exhibition: Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts, Winston-Salem, NC; Arlington Art Center, Arlington, VA; School 33, Baltimore, MD; Danville

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Juror

1996
National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA

1993
Rosebud Film Festival: art/experimental category, Washington, DC

1992
Lila Wallace, Reader's Digest Foundation International Arts Program, NY

Rosebud Film Festival: art/experimental category, Washington, DC

1991
10th Annual Camden City Arts Exhibition, Camden, NJ

Rosebud Film Festival: art/experimental category, Washington, DC

Wilmington Fine Arts Commission Solo Exhibitions, DE

Arlington Arts Center Solo Exhibitions, VA