Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Kline.
Hi Katie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Glendale and the San Fernando Valley. I attended Campbell Hall K-12 before moving to New York City to study visual art and photography at NYU Tisch School of the Arts (BFA) and Columbia University (MFA). While at NYU, I had the opportunity to teach and mentor NYC public high school students as to how to use the darkroom and 35mm cameras. I realized then that I wanted to be a teaching artist. I gained additional skills working in the Community Programs department at the International Center of Photography. While finishing grad school, my former teacher, artist Elizabeth Tremante, reached out to inform me that Campbell Hall had recently expanded its campus to include newly designed art studios and a darkroom. I jumped at the chance to return to my alma mater and have been teaching photography there since 2014. Now, as the chair of the Visual Arts Department, I take great pride in the extensive Visual Arts program we have developed in these state-of-the-art studios. Like my parents did 35 years ago, prospective families are drawn to CH because of its commitment to art. Our teaching artist faculty, professional art gallery, and enthusiastic students fuel me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
All artists struggle at one point or another, it is part of the process. It has become increasingly difficult financially to live in New York and Los Angeles. Our popular culture prides creativity and artists, but only a small percent earn a living wage based on their artwork alone. Finding a job that fuels you and feeds you while also making space and energy for your art practice is a challenging balancing act. Now that I am a mother, it is even more difficult. Luckily, my parents are highly active grandparents and play a huge role in raising my daughter.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My practice consists of personal, solo observations of my surroundings. For years, I photographed my neighborhood of Glendale while taking long walks with my camera. During the pandemic, I turned my camera onto my young family, using bright colors and abstractions to highlight the often psychedelic nature of early motherhood. I am now interested in making portraits of artists in my community, specifically female-identifying artists. I always tell my students that the most interesting images are the ones only you can take.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
The light / the segregation.
Contact Info:
- Website: katiekline.com
- Instagram: @katiekline
Image Credits
All images by Katie Kline
