36 Facts About Kimberly Camp

Kimberly Camp is an artist and museum leader known for her one-of-a kind dolls and paintings, and leading influential museums and museum projects.

Kimberly Camp was the founding director of the Smithsonian Institution Experimental Gallery, president and CEO of the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, president and CEO of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, and director of the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center, a project of the Richland Public Facilities District.

Kimberly Camp was born on September 11,1956, in Camden, New Jersey, the only child of Dr Hubert Camp, an oral surgeon and jazz trumpeter, and Marie Dimery Camp.

Kimberly Camp later studied painting with Austrian painter Alexandria Laimer and Friends School Mullica Hill as part of the school's first graduating class.

Kimberly Camp attended American University from 1973 to 1974, then transferred to University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her bachelor's degree in studio arts and art history.

Kimberly Camp earned a Master of Science degree in arts administration from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1986.

In 1983, Kimberly Camp created a mural program called the Artistic Design Project, a first for the City of Camden.

Kimberly Camp participated in the creation of the Camden Annual Art Exhibition, at Rutgers University Camden Center for the Arts Stedman Gallery.

Kimberly Camp served on the board of the Walt Whitman Arts Center, and was an editor for the Philadelphia Chapter, National Conference of Artists, the oldest Black art organization in the United States.

Kimberly Camp joined the Association of American Cultures, the first national multicultural art organization in the US and served as vice chair of the board of directors.

In May 1989, Kimberly Camp joined the Smithsonian Institution as director of the Experimental Gallery.

Kimberly Camp completed the vision of the gallery to have each exhibition signed by its creators, and used post-it notes to gather public comments within the gallery.

Kimberly Camp created the administrative framework for the gallery, which hosted the National Air and Space Museum's Principles of Flight exhibition, Finding Ones Way by the Exploratorium, "Etiquette of the Underclass" by Antenna Theater, and other exhibitions.

In 1994, Kimberly Camp became executive director then president and CEO of the Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan.

Kimberly Camp oversaw the expansion of the museum and construction of the new 125,000 square foot facility which opened to the public in 1997 as the largest Black museum in the world.

Kimberly Camp was instrumental in the design and planning for its inaugural exhibition "Of the People," which at the time was the largest exhibition ever mounted to tell the African-American story.

In 1998, Kimberly Camp became the first museum professional to serve as president and CEO of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania.

Kimberly Camp's manuscript titled Defending the Dead, includes a detailed account of the professionalization of the Foundation and its legal challenges during her tenure.

Kimberly Camp's research became the basis for the legal petitions to relocate the Foundation to the Parkway, dispelling the widely held misinformation that Dr Barnes' last will and testament was altered and that the Foundation's move was due to impending bankruptcy.

Kimberly Camp founded Galerie Marie in 2013, named for her late mother Marie Dimery Kimberly Camp, in Collingswood, New Jersey.

From 2019 to 2021, Kimberly Camp served as a co-curator for A New View Camden public art project of the City of Camden with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Kimberly Camp teaches art history, art administration and museum leadership at several regional colleges and universities including Rutgers Camden and Drexel University.

Kimberly Camp is a regular consultant for non-profit organizations on strategic planning, leadership transition and best practices in governance.

Previously, Kimberly Camp taught at Lincoln University, Camden County College and Drexel University.

Kimberly Camp consults for non-profit organizations on strategic planning, leadership transition and best practices in governance.

Kimberly Camp began as an oil painter, then began working almost exclusively in acrylic paint.

Kimberly Camp's dolls extend beyond the African-American experience to include a wide range of interests, cultural knowledge and travel.

In 1982, Kimberly Camp began making Brown Babies using hand-dyed cotton and African textiles, to represent western, central and eastern African ethnic groups.

Kimberly Camp later changed the name to Kimkins, which have been published in local print and broadcast media, National Geographic World, Essence and Ebony magazines.

Kimberly Camp uses materials from world cultures to craft dolls with layered significance.

Kimberly Camp's materials include raffia, animal teeth and antler, textiles, beads and cowrie shells.

Kimberly Camp's dolls have appeared in The New York Times, FiberArts, The Village Voice and Smithsonian.

Kimberly Camp was featured in a one-person exhibition at the Prizm Art Fair by Filo Sofi Arts, during 2022 Art Basel Miami.

Kimberly Camp has received numerous awards and fellowships over the course of her career.

Kimberly Camp received the Kellogg National Leadership Program Fellowship two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and a Smithsonian International Travel fellowship as Visiting Scholar for Tokyo Gedia University.

Kimberly Camp was named one of the Outstanding Young Women of America.