Kimberly Camp
“Speaking truth to power is the only way to be empowered and to have integrity. As important as that is understanding that art is a form of communication…And my art lets me communicate my sense of humor, my sense of culture, and my sense of commitment to social equity.”
Kimberly Camp began her career as a professional artist over 50 years ago. Her work celebrates her identity and heritage as an African American woman in two different art forms. First, her portraits overwhelmingly feature people of color, lovingly painted in vivid colors. Second, her art dolls are usually made with expressive clay bodies and heads with African faces. They are variously outfitted with fabric from Ghana or Mali, leather or burlap, and embellished with beadwork. Most recently, her “Immigration Series” dolls serve as political statements. Kimberly’s dolls have been shown throughout the U.S. in over 100 solo and group exhibitions, including the American Craft Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and the International Sculpture Center. Her paintings and dolls are also showcased at Galerie Marie in Collingswood, NJ. This is Kimberly’s non-traditional gallery where she also sells art, craft, jewelry, scarves, and other handmade items from around the world. In addition, she carries magic wands, as a tongue-in-cheek way of paying homage to the metaphysical store that previously occupied the address.
Kimberly’s past positions include first president and CEO of the Barnes Foundation, founding director of the Smithsonian Experimental Gallery, and president and CEO of the Charles Wright Museum. A native of Camden, NJ, she serves as curator for A New View Camden. In all she does, her leadership style balances compassion with affirmative, practical action.
What does leadership mean to you?
“Leadership requires cyclical thinking and the ability to balance compassion with affirmative operational modes towards practical action. The quality of leadership depends on one's ability to see an argument from all sides and speak truth to power. Peeling back the layers is tough work., especially in this current climate. The greatest challenge to becoming a leader is matching what you say your are doing with what you actually ARE doing.”
What big ideas have propelled your career?
“Speaking truth to power is the only way to be empowered and to have integrity. As important is understanding that art is a form of communication. contemporary ideas about art not relating to regular people, existing for art's sake, are ideas from a small part of the world, from a small group pf people, in a minute time frame that pales in comparison to our existence of creatives over 200,000 years ago. The oldest known art studio is in South Africa is about 100,000 years old. Knowing that puts things in perspective.”
Biography:
Kimberly Camp’s work has been shown in over 100 exhibitions, including the American Craft Museum, Smithsonian Institution, International Sculpture Center, University of Michigan, Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts, CRT Craftery Gallery and Manchester Craftsman’s Guild. Camp’s workshops/residencies include the Baltimore Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Longwood Gardens, African American Museum Philadelphia, and Indiana University, Pennsylvania. She has been featured in Essence, Nouvel Objet, New York Times, FiberArts, National Geographic World, Village Voice and Smithsonian. Camp has served as a panelist and speaker for the NEA; the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Foundation; and numerous art councils. Her awards include NEA Fellowships, Kellogg Fellowship, Smithsonian International Travel Fellowship, and the Roger L. Stevens Award. Camp received the 2020 Award of Excellence from the American Craft Council for her debut at their Baltimore show. Camp served as president and CEO of the Barnes Foundation, founding director of the Smithsonian Experimental Gallery, and president and CEO of the Charles Wright Museum. Camp led the creation of the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center. Currently, she is president of Galerie Marie in NJ, and serves as curator for A New View Camden, adjunct faculty at Drexel University and Rutgers University.