Artist Kimiara Johnson Brings Creative Doll Project to Family FunDay
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An example of Kimiara Johnson’s doll and doll portfolio work is shown. The Pine BLuff Artist will lead the Second Saturday Family FunDay Activity on Feb. 13, 2021. Visitors can make their own doll portfolio during the free event. Family FunDay is sponsored by the Pine Bluff Area Community Foundation.
Pine Bluff Artist Uses Fashion Influence, Inclusion In Multimedia Work
Photo of Kimiara Johnson
The Arts & Science Center will welcome guest artist Kimiara Johnson to the next Second Saturday Family FunDay, on Feb. 13, 2021.
Johnson will lead the day’s activity in creating a Valentine’s Day doll art portfolio, using toys like Barbies and decorating with arts and craft supplies.
Like all Family FunDay events, attendance and materials are free.
The activity will be from 12:30–3 p.m. To help with social distancing, visitors are encouraged to register and choose from two time slots. Following CDC and state guidelines, the number of visitors is limited to 10 at one time.
“Take & make” kits, which include supplies to make a simpler version of the doll portfolio, will be available for those who would like to do the activity at home. The kits can be picked up in ASC’s front entrance breezeway from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12. An instructional video will be posted at 1 p.m. Saturday on ASC’s Facebook page.
“Tropical Treasure Barbie” is one of three Barbie dolls Kimiara Johnson remade for an exhibition in Sonoma, California, in 2020.
The activity is to help young artists and future designers keep a collection of their art and creative skills with doll-making, crafts, and illustrations, while encouraging them to share their work, Johnson explained. Visitors will be able to choose the supplies to create their own individual doll art portfolio using scrapbooking techniques. Johnson will be on hand to help participants select their materials and then provide a step-by-step demonstration.
Visitors are encouraged to place their future doll and doll illustration projects inside their portfolio for confidence, productivity, art notes, creative design skills, and consistency, Johnson said.
“I’m excited to see individualism and creativity from everyone attending the event,” she said.
About Kimiara Johnson
A multimedia artist, Johnson’s love of fashion is reflected in her pieces. Much of her recent work has been in painting and crafting one-of-a-kind, artistic Barbie dolls.
Her painting Nola Reception Couture Gown was selected for the 2020 Small Works on Paper. The Arkansas Art Council’s annual touring exhibition made a stop at ASC last fall. The painting is now in ASC’s Permanent Collection. She will also have a piece titled Ruby’s Reprise in the 2021 show, which will be on view in ASC’s ARTSpace on Main this summer.
Kimiara Johnson’s painting Nola Reception Couture Gown is now in ASC’sPermanent Collection.
In November 2020, Johnson participated in an exhibition Barbie: Reclaimed & Reinvented at Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma, California. Reusing only cast-off materials, artists transformed more than 70 Barbies and other dolls into new works of art in a celebration of waste management. The dolls were then sold in a silent benefit auction.
She created three Barbie dolls for the show: “Tropical Treasure Barbie” (which was inspired her Nola Reception Couture Gown painting), “Jewel Barbie” (which included a wheelchair and a ramp), and “Mosaic Rose Barbie” (with a prosthetic leg Johnson made).
Johnson said she loves to create art experiences for a range of diverse populations, especially individuals with disabilities. In 2011, she was injured in an accident and left immobile and unable to walk. She had to withdraw from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
During that time, she painted with the best of her abilities, which motivated her to learn to walk again and produce art.
Johnson re-enrolled and graduated from UAPB in 2013, with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development and family studies. She is also an alumna of Pine Bluff High School, graduating in 2008.
For more information about Johnson, watch her Feb. 4 interview with ASC’s Chaney Jewell, as part of the Meet The Curator series.
About Family FunDay
ASC’s Second Saturday Family FunDay program offers monthly hands-on arts and science activities in which visitors create art, complete science projects, or perform dance, music, or theater. Activities complement current art or science exhibitions. Activities are always free and led by visiting artists, local art educators, and ASC staff.
Family FunDay is sponsored by the Pine Bluff Area Community Foundation, an affiliate office of the Arkansas Community Foundation, Inc.
