Hello! I am a 25-year-old impasto oil painter living in San Diego, California. I teach drawing and painting to children for Monart School of the Arts, San Diego, and I am also a Teaching Artist for The Old Globe’s Arts Engagement team in Balboa Park.

I was born in New York City and grew up in the New Jersey suburbs, where I learned how to draw, sew, paint, collage, quilt, knit, and build websites, amongst other crafts. I have always been incredibly passionate about both art and social justice. I studied Political Theory and Sociology at American University in Washington D.C., where I also took studio painting courses and realized my true identity as an Artist. Upon graduating, I pivoted from a career in politics to organized activism, teaching, and painting.

I spent my first three years after graduation teaching art in underinvested communities in Brooklyn and Queens. While I am proud of and grateful for that experience, I found myself disillusioned by the public school systems in NYC and the exclusivity of the art world in general. A city that once inspired my love for art, no longer felt like an accessible space for me and the young artists I taught.

Last year I relocated to San Diego, drawn to the color and movement happening in the city’s intimate artistic communities. I have loved teaching in a city that fights for its art funding, and I hope to go back to school in the near future to continue my studies with an Art Theory focus.

To contact me for commission or any other inquiries, please email me at KaylaBowman98@gmail.com or reach out through instagram DM at @KaylaBowmanArt.