From Essex County to the White House, Kimberly Drew is making a statement in the art world – NorthJersey.com

Kimberly Drew credits her family with exposing her to area museums and planting the seed of what has blossomed into a busy career blogging, posting, writing about and drawing attention to African-American artists and their works.

But as a child growing up in Orange, she was drawn to the exhibits as much for what she didn’t find there as what she did. “Growing up in proximity to Newark and New York, I’m no stranger to cacophony,” she says. “I liked the silence, and being in a calm, soothing environment.”

Now 29 and living in Brooklyn, Drew is making a lot of noise in the art world herself. She recently published an essay for Playboy on provocative artist Marilyn Minter and a fashion-focused Vanity Fair cover story on actress Lupita Nyong’o; a forthcoming collaboration with New York Times writer Jenna Wortham on black creativity is slated for publication in 2020.

Sometimes Drew is the art herself: That’s her on a billboard outside the Galeries Lafayette flagship store in Paris, promoting its “Fashioning Change” campaign. In August, Reebok announced that she was one of five women asked to work together on a shoe design that reflects her “bold personality.”

Through it all, she has never forgotten her roots in Orange; in fact, she shows them off proudly by way of a certain tattoo. She spoke to Millburn & Short Hills Magazine about her work highlighting culture at locations here and abroad, including the White House lawn.

Did you think from an early age that you would be working in the art world? 

I didn’t understand experiencing art as a life path until I went to [Smith] college. It wasn’t until I interned at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where I went from being a visitor to a potential applicant, that I understood that working in the arts was a possibility. 

What did you gain from your internship at the Studio Museum? 

I figured out so many things about who and how I wanted to be. It’s not often that young black kids are taught they can work in museums. It’s imperative that more curricula teach art-making and working in creative fields as a professional path. I was part of the millennial era, when we had arts programming in school and it was supported well. Now there are less resources [devoted to it]. Math is seen as something you use later in life, but art doesn’t get treated the same way.

While still in college, you launched Black Contemporary Art on Tumblr. What was your goal, and how has the blog changed? 

I had been so invigorated to learn about artists like Glenn Ligon and Trenton Doyle Hancock, and I wanted to build on that knowledge base. I enrolled in art history classes because I was hungry to learn more. The blog was an educational tool for myself. I made it a collaborative effort; I put out a call to other people on the Tumblr page to see if anyone was like-minded and wanted to work on it together. It’s always been not just one unique person; three to five people contribute to it, and it’s edited by committee.

The thing that’s changed the most is that the lives of everyone who’s worked on it have changed. I was a student, and I felt there were more hours in the day then. I check in when I can, but it’s not as frequent as it was at one point, updating it every two hours around the clock. Now it exists as an archive. 

How did you come to be hired as the Associate Online Community Producer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and what innovations did you add while there?

By the time I applied, I had been working in social media for about five years, and had a good deal of experience in a new medium. I’d also had some success in other communities I managed, including [the nonprofit] Creative Time and the Lehmann Maupin art gallery. In my time at the Met, our online audience grew by over 5 million users across platforms. I also initiated our We Chat Chinese social network; it wasn’t successful, but it pushed me to step out of my comfort zone. It spoke to the tourist population at the institution to serve them more thoughtfully.

My predecessor launched Facebook Live, and I expanded on our outreach to Korean, American Sign Language, Spanish and other speakers. Our strategy was always to invite people in whether they could come physically or not. It’s such a great tool for gallery tours; people can experience them from the comfort of their own homes. 

What was it like taking over the White House Instagram account for a day in 2016?

The Obama White House was looking for someone to handle Instagram during their South by South Lawn event, and I’d worked as a social media manager, so there was a level of trust already. They were familiar with my work and thought I would be a great voice for the project. I did on-the-ground interviews and shared my experience of the event. Common was there, and so was Jillian Mercado, the model and activist. It was great because I had gone to visit the White House with my family, and being able to go back for this very specific occasion was great. 

You and Jenna Wortham are collaborating on a book celebrating the works of black artists. That’s a big subject. How will you cover it? 

The book is about what it means to be black and alive right now. It’ll be a mix of photos and text that takes a screen shot of what’s going on right now. Social media has created so many opportunities for connections; in a black context, how do we archive what’s going on? Black Lives Matter started as a Facebook post. How do we build an archive around how that movement began? 

How has living in Brooklyn shaped your participation in the art community?

I go to so many things in Brooklyn, for sure. The Brooklyn Museum has great public programming, the BRIC arts center is free and open to the public, I saw a play at the Shakespeare Center… I write about artists in the Brooklyn community. 

You’ve been writing about artists for a lot of national magazines lately. Do you enjoy the interview process? 

I love to do interviews, in writing and in person. I like inviting audiences to dialogue; it’s my favorite way to interact. I also love to go to talks, and I want to make the best talks possible. We’ve all been to a bad talk. 

I understand that you have a 973 tattoo on the inside of your ankle. When did you get it, and what does it mean to you?

I got it as soon as I turned 18; it was one of the first tattoos I got. I have so much Jersey pride. Ride or die for 973.

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