We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karin Skiba a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Karin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?
I feel I have done several things. Having a graduate degree in Fine Art gave me the opportunity to teach college and university level art classes. As the first fulltime art professor at a new college in Norco, California, I helped create an art program that grew over the years. But upon retirement I was asked to develop an art gallery at the college. With the help of forward-thinking administrators, we started the Norco College Art Gallery for an accredited college that now boasts over 16,000 students. But the most recent endeavor has been my position as a volunteer Gallery Director for the Hi-Desert Artists Center in Yucca Valley, Ca. As part of a 6-member Board of Directors, we secured financial backing to purchase and occupy a vintage shop of over 3200 sq ft. This has been turned into a three-gallery and one gallery shop facility to host classes, events, and exhibitions for the community of Yucca Valley. Our artist membership is growing, and we just hosted our inaugural opening as well as artist panel. Since this is a tourist destination as well as small peaceful community, a high-end gallery here is much needed in the Morongo Basin where we reside.
I am proud of the effort of myself and my committee of dedicated artists put forth to make the opening event that saw 500 people attend.
Karin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Studying fashion design in art school in Detroit, I eventually moved my interest to fine arts. Graduate school in Claremont, Ca, gave me the impetus to exhibit, but I soon began to teach university and college art classes. Still maintaining a studio and exhibiting, I nonetheless enjoyed bringing art forward to the students and sharing the wonderful world of fine art and design. It is truly empowering to be able to light a spark of understanding in people who have no idea what art really is. Developing my classes led to the curator work that I began in graduate school to fruition, with exhibits for my students to develop a gallery for the college. My own private studio in Joshua Tree, Ca, is a salon of sorts for my own work of course. But the new Hi-Desert Artists Center is the most public achievement. Curating the diverse work of the community artists as well as providing a space for self-curated shows by Los Angeles area artists is a nice achievement. I try to recognize all levels of professionalism and get to know the artists involved as much as possible.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
In the 1980s it seemed life was wide open for me. I was in many shows in Los Angeles, with a gallery in Chicago as well as LA, and it was exciting. But financial needs were pressing. I began to teach and for 9 years commuted the So Cal basin to three different colleges for my assignments. Finally in 1990, I secured a fulltime tenure track position. The structure and time constraints prevented me from my usual social gatherings but eventually I fell into the pattern and began to enjoy my interaction with fellow faculty, the students, and the security this employment gave me. I was able to still create in my studio and to develop my work at my own pace. It could be frustrating at times, but when I led study abroad in Florence, Italy, three times and also had over 15 solo exhibitions during my tenure, I was grateful for it all.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most exciting part of being a creative is connecting with yourself in a way that maybe other people cannot achieve. I see a lot of contemporaries that struggle with life and their place within it. I knew what I wanted from an early age. It was not always easy to convince parents, family, or a spouse that I had to fulfill my goals as an artist. But I persisted. And this is the message I give to my peers as well as what I taught my students.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karinskiba.com
- Instagram: #karinskibaart
- Facebook: Karin M SKiba
Image Credits
Robert. Grajeda photography