Kari Grimsby (born 1974) is an American photographer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Raised in Ringwood, New Jersey, a small town of lakes and woods on the NY/NJ border, Kari spent her formative 20s-30s in New York City, and after a 4-year stint living on estate dairy farms with her cheesemaker husband and 2 children, is currently in the weeds of middle-aged womanhood and motherhood in a suburb north of Pittsburgh. She studied art history, Buddhism, and photography at Ithaca College, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from School of Visual Arts in New York City, where her thesis work won the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award in 2002 at the recommendation of renowned artist, Sarah Charlesworth. In recent years, Kari presented her photographs at Marble Hill Camera Club, was interviewed for the NYC Photo Community Newsletter, and was included in the Luupe’s 100 Visions of Fatherhood exhibition in 2021.

Despite always identifying as an artist, Kari struggles with perfectionism in her creative practice and in her life in general, and battles against this in order to make artwork. Societal and economic pressures shape (and limit) life's potential trajectories, how we use our time and resources and, most importantly, how we define ourselves. These cultural and existential limitations and frameworks are the core concern of Kari's artwork. Through her photography, Kari meditates on life in America, our perceptions of reality and beauty, and the ordinary and extraordinary qualities of existence that are observable in our presentations of ourselves, our interactions, our manmade environments, and in the media we constantly consume. Kari understands that photographs do not document objective reality, and she hopes that you understand this too.

Contact: kari.grimsby@gmail.com, cell/imessage: 412-737-0916
instagram: @karigrimsby
linkedin: Kari Grimsby

Photo Services:  Teaching, editorial assignments, personal commissions, event & performance photography, headshots, and fine-art copy work.

Web Services:  Web design, front-end development, web presence and design consultation, for individual creatives, companies, and organizations.

Publications
Skid Mag, Issue 4, September 2021, Pittsburgh submission based zine, 3 photographs

Kottke: Home of Fine Hypertext Products, June 22, 2021, highlighted 3 photographers from The Luupe

NYC Photo Community, Issue No. 84, May 14-21, 2021, featured photographer

Artist Talk
Marble Hill Marathon, May 2021 - zine pdf
Marble Hill Camera Club, via Zoom
(normally at:) Gottscheer Hall in Ridgewood, Queens, NY

Exhibitions
100 Visions of Fatherhood, June 2021
The Luupe, Group Exhibition, Online

Early Sunsets Over Monroeville, August 2019
The Lab @ The Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA

Summer Sun Day Dream, July 2018
The Lab @ The Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA

Farm Life, January 2015
E77 Gallery, Jackson Heights, Queens NY

Meme Project: Multimedia Benefit Show, September 2002
Loft Below Canal, Tribeca, NYC

Stuck in Place, solo exhibition, September 2002
Corinium Gallery, Ringwood, NJ

Plain: MFA Thesis Exhibition, August 2002
Visual Arts Gallery, SoHo, New York, NY

Fall & Spring Salons: MFA Photo, Video & Related Media Dept, 1999-2002
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Ithaca College Senior Exhibition, juried exhibition, May 1996
Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca, NY

Honors
Paula Rhodes Memorial Award, 2002
Nominated by Sarah Charlesworth on merits of thesis project
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Phi Kappa Phi, Academic Honors Society, Ithaca College, 1993

8th Grade Artistic Promise Award, Graduation, 1988
Martin J. Ryerson Middle School, Ringwood, NJ

Teaching Experience
Creative Space: Open Art Studio, Instructor. Winter 2020
Fairview Elementary School Great Expectations Program, Pittsburgh, PA

Digital Photography for 8-12-year-olds, Instructor. Fall 2013
Digital Street Photography, 13-18-year-olds, Instructor, Spring 2013
All of Us Care, Volunteers of America, Sharpsburg, PA

Video, 8-10-year-olds, After School Program, Substitute Instructor. Spring 2012
Boyd Community Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Digital Image Illustration, Spring 2012
Introduction to Design Applications, Fall 2011
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division

Web Design, Adjunct Faculty. Spring 2007-Fall 2010
Fundamentals of Interactive Media, Fall 2008
Basic Photography, Fall 2006
Fundamentals of Computer Art, Fall 2005-Spring 2006
Ramapo College, Contemporary Arts Department, Mahwah, NJ

Web Design for Photographers Workshop, Guest Lecturer. Spring 2008
VisuaLife - Children's Aid, Volunteer Instructor of foster children, Summer 2005
Introduction to Applied Photo Techniques, Teaching Assistant, Fall 2001
School of Visual Arts, MFA Photography, Video & Related Media Dept, New York, NY

Introduction to Digital Imaging, Adjunct Faculty. Spring 2005
Intermediate Digital Photography, Substitute Faculty, Summer 2005
Experimental Darkroom Techniques, Teaching Assistant, Spring 2001
School of Visual Arts, BFA Photography Department, New York, NY

After-School Photography Workshop, Teaching Assistant. Spring 2001
Fashion Industries High School/International Center of Photography, New York, NY

Professional Positions
Administrative Assistant, Programs. April 2024-present
Lauri Ann West Community Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Academic Advisor. October 2002-June 2007
MFA Photography, Video & Related Media Dept.
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Freelance Editor. 2000-2005
Exploring Color Photography, 4th Edition by Robert Hirsch
and other art, film, and humanities titles
Higher Education Division
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York, NY

Graduate Assistantship. August 2000-August 2002 (Webmaster, 2001-2002)
Digital Imaging Computer Lab
MFA Photography, Video & Related Media Dept.
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Associate Editor - Art Bulletin, CAANews, Careers. July 1998-August 1999
Director - Career Services Center. February 1999 Conference, Los Angeles, CA
College Art Association, New York, NY

Editorial Assistant. March 1997-July 1998
art, film, and humanities lists
McGraw-Hill College Division, New York, NY

Editorial Intern & Contributing Writer. October 1996-March 1997
Women Artists News Book Review
Midmarch Arts Press, New York, NY

Education
MFA, Photography, Video & Related Media
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

BA, Art History, Buddhism minor, summa cum laude
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

Site Info
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Customized by yours truly, Kari Grimsby.

The work on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.