Dr. Kymberly Pinder is Provost and Senior Vice President of Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 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 (2016). 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. She led mural projects in Chicago and Albuquerque. Through a partnership with the city of Albuquerque, Dr. Pinder opened the University of New Mexico’s College of Fine Arts Downtown Studio, which has presented 400 events for a total audience of 8,000 since its 2015 launch, and she spearheaded the creation of an annual all-arts day in Albuquerque with over 200 student artists participating. Before moving to Boston, she was the Dean of Fine Arts and the museum director at UNM, and a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.