Scholarship
Studio Artist
Inside Higher Ed Columnist
Inside Higher Ed Columnist
Bowles has been a practicing studio artist since 1989. Her works have been featured in more than 80 solo and group exhibitions across the country and published (and forthcoming) in 50 art and literary magazines. Her works have been the subject of dozens of features and reviews. She is the recipient of fellowships from the NEA/Artists Midwest, Houston Center for Photography, Visual Studies Workshop, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
More about her studio art can be found at:
Inside Higher Ed Columnist
Inside Higher Ed Columnist
Inside Higher Ed Columnist
Bowles is the author of a weekly blog for Inside Higher Ed (Washington, DC). Postings aim to break down notoriously confusing, perplexing and annoying systems and practices in higher education.
Selected Posts
"Introducing Just Explain It to Me!," October 26, 2021
"Tuition Revenue: Where's All the Money," November 2, 2021.
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-explain-it-me/tuition-revenue-where%E2%80%99s-all-money
"Public Relations: No, You Can't Have Your Own Logo," November 9, 2021
"Boards: Who's Really in Charge," November 16, 2021.
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-explain-it-me/boards-who%E2%80%99s-really-charge
"Sell the Art Collection for Scholarships," November 23, 2021.
"Why Can't We Buy a Fountain From Sam's Club?," November 30, 2021 https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-explain-it-me/why-can’t-we-buy-fountain-sam’s-club
"Why Would an Institution Refuse a Charitable Contribution?," December 8, 2021. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-explain-it-me/why-would-institution-refuse-charitable-contribution
"Should Institutions Support Sports Programs That Don't Make Money?," December 15, 2021, https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-explain-it-me/should-institutions-support-sports-programs-don%E2%80%99t-make-money
Writer and Critic
Inside Higher Ed Columnist
Writer and Critic
K. Johnson Bowles has written more than 40 articles written for Inside Higher Ed, Times Higher Education, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Trusteeship (AGB), Business Officer (NACUBO), The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS), Folk Art Messenger (Richmond, VA), Fiberarts (Asheville, NC), Afterimage (UCPress), Surface Design Journal (Oakland, CA), South Bend Tribune (South Bend, IN), SPOT (Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX), and The Exhibitionist (New York, NY). She has written more than a dozen articles for university alumni magazines at Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, IN) and Longwood University.
Selected articles:
“What You Don’t Know Can Hurt Your Institution: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Philanthropic Giving,” Trusteeship, Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, Washington, DC, November/ December 2021 (cover article).
“Re-inscribing Death: The Art and Excess of Spontaneous Memorials,” Afterimage, University of California Press, 2022 (forthcoming)
“Hawkins Bolden: A Mind’s Eye and Searching Hands See,” Folk Art Messenger, Richmond, VA. Fall 2021
"The Color of Trauma," Afterimage: A Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, University of California Press, June 2021
"Servant Leaders Should Not Be Slaves to Their Institutions," Times Higher Education, London, England, January 2021 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/author/kathy-johnson-bowles
“Having Trouble Diversifying your Board? The Culprit May be Your Discriminatory Database and Application Forms,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy, January 2021.
“I Carve a Message, A Sermon: Elijah Pierce at the Barnes Foundation,” Folk Art Messenger, Richmond, VA. January 2021 https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/9f9377b9-2cd8-4cab-a81c-184de9f65fb1/downloads/I%20Carve%20a%20Message%20a%20Sermon%20Elijah%20Pierces%20Amer.pdf?ver=1611762735382
“Look Through His Eyes: Works on Paper by Thornton Dial,” Folk Art Messenger, Richmond, VA. January 2021 https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/9f9377b9-2cd8-4cab-a81c-184de9f65fb1/downloads/Look%20Through%20His%20Eyes%20Thorton%20Dials%20Drawings%20b.pdf?ver=1611762735383
"Your Discriminatory Database Might Be Turning Off Donors. Here's What You Can Do About It." The Chronicle of Philanthropy, October 21, 2020. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/your-discriminatory-database-may-be-turning-off-donors-heres-what-to-do-about-it
"A Monumental Passion: The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park," Folk Art Messenger, Richmond, VA, June 2020 https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/9f9377b9-2cd8-4cab-a81c-184de9f65fb1/downloads/Vollis%20Simpson%20Article%20June%202020.pdf?ver=1595096406986
“Review: Designs for Different Futures at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, University of California Press, Vol 47, Issue 2 https://online.ucpress.edu/afterimage/article/47/2/64/110732/Review-Designs-for-Different-Futures?searchresult=1
"I Thought My Head Would Explode," Surface Design Association, May 2020 https://www.surfacedesign.org/i-thought-my-head-would-explode-by-k-johnson-bowles/
“Review: José Maçãs de Carvalho: Archive and Democracy,” Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism, Vol. 44 No. 6, May/June 2017 https://online.ucpress.edu/afterimage/article/44/6/25/20555/Review-Jose-Macas-de-Carvalho-Archive-and
“‘Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.’ Advice for new administrators,” Inside Higher Ed, September 4, 2015 https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2015/09/04/advice-administrators-godfather-and-few-good-men-essay
“Curating the Campus: Strategic Planning in Higher Education Today,” Business Officer, NACUBO, Washington, DC, December 2013 (print and online)
“The Artful Strategic Plan,” Business Officer, NACUBO, Washington, DC, December 2013 (online)
“The President’s Many Roles,” Inside Higher Ed, July 1, 2013 https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/07/01/many-roles-and-expectations-college-presidents-essay
“Marion Line,” The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, vol. 15, University of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, 2013
“Constructions and Sculptural Fiber,” Fiberarts, Asheville, NC, September/October 2000
“A Long Hard Look: Robert Heinecken at the Museum of Contemporary Art,” Afterimage, Rochester, NY, March 2000
“The Practiced Hand,” Surface Design Journal, Oakland, CA, Spring 2000
“Straw Into Gold—Artists Using Industrial Materials,” Fiberarts, Asheville, NC, January/February 2000
“An Enchanted Garden—Installation by Margery Amdur,” Fiberarts, Asheville, NC, September/October 1999
“A Polestar for Photography—Photography’s Multiple Roles at Columbia College Museum of Photography,” Afterimage, Rochester, NY, Summer 1999
“Desert Solitaire,” Afterimage, Rochester, NY, September/October 1997
“Ivan Albright Retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago,” The Exhibitionist, New York, NY, September 1997
“Theater of the Absurd—Photo Works by Anna and Bernhard Blume,” Afterimage, Rochester, NY, September/October 1996
“Imagined Nostalgia in Gothic Arcadia—The Photography of Martina Lopez,” SPOT, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, Spring 1996
“Infiltrated—The Work of Betty Hahn,” Afterimage, Rochester, NY, January/February 1996
“Hidden Messages,” SPOT, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, Spring 1995
“The Adventurer—An Interview with Anne Noggle,” SPOT, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, Fall 1994
“An Engaging, Ethereal, Evocative Journey: Collected Visions by Lorie Novak,” SPOT, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, Fall 1993
“Recognitions: The Human and Animal Within—Atavistic Beasts by Aida Lelain,” SPOT, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, Summer 1993
Author
Honors & Awards
Writer and Critic
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Kathy Johnson Bowles has authored major, scholarly, award-winning exhibition catalogues on African, American, and Chinese art. Most notable of these catalogs were Three-Ring Circus: Highlights from the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection of Folk Art (2011), a 180-page, full-color catalog of 270 works created since 1950, and Reflecting Centuries of Beauty: The Rowe Collection of Chinese Art (2006), a 160-page, full-color catalog of 160 works spanning the Neolithic period to the 20th century.
Selected catalogs:
Scent of the Pine, You Know How I Feel: North Carolina Art from the Jonathan P. Alcott Collection (2014)
Three-Ring Circus: Highlights from the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection (2011), in the collection of the Smithsonian
Institute Libraries.
Seeds of the Past: The Keith Kissee Collection of American Art from the 1930s and 1940s (2010)
Reflecting Centuries of Beauty: The Rowe Collection of Chinese Art (2006)
Improvisation: African American Quilts from the Collection of Michael David Whaley (2005)
Birds of Prey: Five Centuries of Illustration (2003)
Telling Objects: African Art from the LCVA Permanent Collection (2002)
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: A Journey Through Tribal Lands (2001) https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/9f9377b9-2cd8-4cab-a81c-184de9f65fb1/downloads/Juane%20Quick-to-See%20Smith%20A%20Journey%20Through%20Tri.pdf?ver=1600620440660
Curator
Honors & Awards
Honors & Awards
Since 1994, Kathy Johnson Bowles has curated and designed more than 125 exhibitions of African, American, Chinese, and European art. Also, she developed a major art on campus program at Longwood University featuring more than 1,100 works, five named galleries, and an outdoor sculpture program.
Selected Exhibitions (Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Longwood University, VA):
Scent of the Pine, You Know How I Feel: North Carolina Art from the Jonathan P. Alcott Collection (catalog)
Three-Ring Circus: Highlights from The William and Ann Oppenheimer Collection of Folk Art (catalog)
Power and Beauty: The Davis, Watson, and Hughes Collections of African Art
Seeds of the Past: The Keith Kissee Collection of American Art from the 1930s and ’40s (catalog)
A Critical Eye: Paintings from the Robert B. and Margaret T. Mayo Collection (catalog)
Extreme Personalities, Elegant Painting: Works from the Lester Blackiston Collection
Elegant Demeanor: Paintings by Lauren McIntosh
Paintings by Kojo Griffin
Cover to Cover: Photographs by Dean Kessmann
Reflecting Centuries of Beauty: The Rowe Collection of Chinese Art (catalog)
Improvisation: African American Quilts from the Collection of Michael David Whaley (curator, catalog)
Birds of Prey: Five Centuries of Illustration (catalog)
Vinyl! Record Cover Albums from 1950-1990
The Design of Charles and Ray Eames
Photographs of Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes by Frances Benjamin Johnston 1864-1952
Telling Objects: African Art from the LCVA Permanent Collection (catalog)
Working Illustration by David Macaulay
Hornet’s Nest by Mara Adamitz Scrupe
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: A Journey through Tribal Lands (catalog)
Mediations: Japanese Fiber Traditions Today
Selected Exhibitions (Moreau Galleries of St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN:
Generations of Women: Photographs by Mariana Cook
Letters from the Middle East Installation by Jonathan Sharlin (curator)
Lost Sense: Sculpture by Catherine Widgery
presence: Installation by Kristin Schopp
A selection from Arguably Alive (the virus taxonomy): An installation by Frances Whitehead
Threatened/Threatening Landscapes: Works by Mary Beth Edelson, Peter Goin, David T. Hanson, Andres Serrano, Joel Sternfeld
Threads of Continuity—A Right to Passage: Installation by Margery Amdur
Collaborative Learning: A Selection of Prints from Anchor Graphics
River Wraith: An Installation by Shawn Skabelund
The Dispossessed: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Photographs by Rhonda Zwillinger
(Un)covers: Fiber Works by Susie Brandt
New Totems: Sculptures by Charles Johnson Decisive Light: Paintings by Steve Perrault
The Sacred Snapshot: Works Incorporating Family Photographs
Upon the Arrival of My Family/ A La Llegada de Mi Familia: Sculpture Installation by Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido
Whimsical Fractured History: One of a Kind Books by William Schade
Ordinary/Extraordinary: Sculpture by Jerry Bleem
Freckles: New Work by Anne Lindberg (curator)
Gatecrasher: Photographs by Diane Tani
Herstories of War: Prints by Barbara Milman
Out of Darkness: Photographs by Lorie Novak
Notions and Nostalgia: Photographs on Fabric by Amalia Amaki and Suzanne Williamson
Honors & Awards
Honors & Awards
Honors & Awards
Bowles work has been recognized by professional organizations nationally:
American Alliance of Museums (formerly American Association of Museums): First Place, Newsletters (2009-10); First Place, Special Event Invitation (2008-09); First Place, Excellence in Exhibition Label-Writing Competition (2008-09); Honorable Mention, Annual Report (2006-07); Honorable Mention, Special Event (2006-07); First Place, Exhibition Catalogue (2006-07); First Prize, Promotional Materials (2006-07); Honorable Mention, Exhibition Catalogue (2002-03).
Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals: Magazine (2016)—Platinum Award (writing), Award (design), Gold Award (overall).
CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education), International: Gold Award, Books (2011-12)
CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education), Division III: Special Merit Award, Catalog (2006-07); Award of Merit, Newsletter (2006-07); and Award Best in Show, Newsletter (2001-02).
Longwood University: Resolution of Honor, Longwood University Foundation, Inc. (2011); Chi Commendation, Honorary Society (2011).
The Southeastern Museums Conference: Award of Excellence, Exhibitions (2006-07); Honorable Mention, (2006-07); and Honorable Mention, Newsletter (2002-03).
The Public Relations Society of America (Mid-Atlantic District): Bronze Medallion, Newsletters (2008-09); Bronze Certificate of Merit, Publications (2008-09).