Renowned art historian, educator, and Dean of Yale School of Art Dr. Kymberly Pinder will explore the growing, but often overlooked, history of women muralists. Aurora Reyes, la primera muralista in Mexico and Judy Baca, the grande dame of the Chicano arts movement made their marks among a male-dominated art form. Graffiti artists such as Lady Pink and feminist collectives like Women on Walls, Guerrilla Girls and Few and Far Women, have seized the bully pulpit of art in the street to share imagery that empowers women and addresses systemic and cultural sexism, locally and globally.

Dr. Kymberly Pinder is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Dean of the Yale School of Art. As a scholar and a curator, Dr. Pinder teaches, writes and lectures on representations of religion, history and race in American Art, and has authored multiple books on the subject, most recently Painting the Gospel: Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago. She is also the editor of Race-ing Art History: Critical Readings in Race and Art History. Her curatorial projects include “Necessary Force: Art of the Police State” and “Spreading the Gospel: Graffiti and the Public Space as Canvas.”

As a mural scholar, Dr. Pinder has always been committed to community engagement and interdisciplinary initiatives. Working with different artists and local officials, she has taught courses that have led to the creation of murals in Chicago and Albuquerque. Previously, she was Provost and Senior Vice President of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the Dean of Fine Arts and the museum director at University of New Mexico, and a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.