Kymberly N. Pinder is an American art historian, curator, and university administrator. She is the current dean of

Yale School of Art The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Master of Fine Arts, Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in g ...

, and is the first woman of color to hold this position.

Education and career

She received her PhD from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in Art History in 1995. Pinder has taught and served in administrative roles at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

(Dean of the College of Fine Arts), the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

(Professor, Chair of the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism and Director of the Graduate Program), and

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

. Starting in April 2020, Pinder served as the Acting President at MassArt. Before taking on the position of Acting President at MassArt, she held the positions of provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. In addition to her role at MassArt, Dr. Pinder is a Boston Public Art Commission member. In June 2021, it was announced that Pinder would be heading the

as its new dean. Pinder will be the first woman of color and only second woman ever to hold this position in Yale's history. She is the first Black female dean in Yale University's history.

Scholarship

Pinder's research explores African American visual culture. In 2002, she edited a volume ''Race-ing Art History,'' which brought together essays on the importance of including race in art historical conversations. It was the first anthology to encourage a multiculturalism, postcolonialism, and

critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between Social constructionism, social conceptions of Race and ethnicity in the United States census, race and ethnicity, Law in the United States, social and political ...

lens be placed onto art history. Her 2016 book
''Painting the Gospel''
highlights instances of strong visual culture in predominantly Black churches, with particular focus on representations of Black Jesus. The book further explores how public art can become an active part of a community while also highlighting the importance of understanding these artworks within their original context.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinder, Kymberly American art curators American women curators Year of birth missing (living people) Yale University alumni Living people American art historians American women art historians 21st-century American women