September 2020 - Arts Leader Spotlight
Announcing September’s Arts Leader Spotlight…
In honor of the year of the woman, the MSDE Fine Arts Office celebrates the work of Kimberly Brown, curriculum director of Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms(MC3). Congratulations to an incredible woman and arts education leader!
Kimberly embodies the principles of MC3 teaching and learning in her classroom with students and brings that expertise and real-world experience to her work with MC3. Under Kimberly's leadership, the MC3 roster has flourished and the program now offers more variety and deeper engagement.
Kimberly Brown
Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms, Curriculum Director
When did you realize you were an artist?
Though I have always loved drawing and painting throughout my K-12 education, my confidence and realization as an artist did not come until my Drawing I class in college. I remember being a Physiology major with a full schedule of science classes, but yearning to take art, so I did and never looked back. That Drawing I class with Mike Henderson, my only Black art professor left a lasting impression on me. It was affirming to see someone who looked like me as an artist. He would come to class with a shopping cart full of anything and everything and set it on the table and tell us to find something that interested us and start drawing. This was my first formal drawing class working with charcoal. I remember feeling intimidated by this messy medium and exhilarated by the fact that this class was 4 hours of just drawing and talking and learning from one another. For me it was freedom.
When Mike would give critiques, he would give it to us straight, questioning us, and pushing us to be our best. For my first self-portrait, we had to have a self-portrait done every Monday, he told me “Well, it’s okay, but the portrait does not look like a Black person.” I still have that charcoal portrait, I remember being so afraid to mess up with charcoal. But looking back at the first portrait and my evolution as an artist today, I am so grateful for that moment and his class, because it got me thinking about my art, my process, and why I was afraid. As an artist, I try to pursue my work without fear, to me my artistry and me as an artist, means FREEDOM. This all happened freshman year in college, first quarter sophomore year I changed my major from Physiology to Art Studio.
Why does arts education matter to you?
Over the years, certainly from when I was a child, education in general has changed vastly. One thing that has always been blaring to me is the compartmentalization of education, but life does not exist that way, most things happen simultaneously. So for me, arts education is a way students can express themselves and explore various media organically without strict compartmenization. My goal as an arts educator/leader is to create fluidity within the visual arts, so that students can express and explore their arts knowledge (keeping in mind that the arts include multiple disciplines, reading math, writing, science, etc.) through multiple entry points to ensure accessibility for all. Arts Education matters because the arts are something that comes naturally to most children and they should be allowed to evolve and express themselves through the arts.
As a leader in the Arts, what are your priorities for this coming year?
This school year will be unlike any other I’ve experienced in my 18 years of teaching, in that my art classes will be online during a worldwide pandemic. This will be challenging of course, but my priorities will be providing the best arts education possible for my students, under these unprecedented circumstances. That will consist of a continued building of relationships, and giving access to students to express how they feel artistically. I am so fortunate to have facilitated and been a participant in the 130 hours of professional learning provided by the MSDE Fine Arts office through MC3. With that new knowledge of technology and various artistic skills brought by various arts educators and arts leaders across the state, I am confident that my students and I will go through this journey together, learning and growing, and creating beautifully expressive visual art.
How does creativity show up in your day?
Creativity shows up all throughout my day. With my own work, I am consistently looking through magazines, grabbing colors or words or pictures I may use for a future collage. It shows up when my daughter is telling me about a new culinary creation she will make, or if she is stress baking and creates a small rainbow cake, with icing that is a little too liquid, so it falls off the cake. Or creativity can even show up in the Japanese characters my other daughter shows me, as we watch the bold images of anime on Haikyu. It also shows up in my home, where my collages and abstract art grace the walls. They are always conversation pieces, guests asking me what they mean, and me happy to get their interpretation, and explain mine. As an artist, I’m always thinking about the process and possibilities of everything, and that in itself is creative.
Share a recommendation of a book, artist, event, or piece of work that inspires you!
For the past couple of years, I have been inspired by the artist Rosa Leff. She is a hand paper cut artist out of Baltimore. I remember seeing her work at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, MD and I was completely fascinated by it. She very meticulously cuts paper with an x-acto knife of these intricate cityscapes or buildings or graffiti. I am an abstract painter and collage artist, so for me I am always intrigued and inspired by those artists who do what I don’t do. The intricate nature of her papercuts is amazing. To see her work, you just think, “how in the world did somebody do that.” I highly recommend, looking up her work. You will be wowed!
Instagram: @everybodysartteacher