Kristin Leachman is an American contemporary artist living and working in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. Born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Leachman spent her early years in rural

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Leachman studied at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

, where she received her BFA in Painting. She went on to study at

The American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, receiving her MFA in Production Design and being awarded the Franklin J. Schaffner Fellowship. Leachman designed "Senzeni Na?" (“What Have We Done?”), nominated for the “Best Short Subject” Academy Award. After several years of working on studio productions in Hollywood, Leachman returned to painting. Leachman's work is widely represented in museums and private collections including, among others, the

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

and

The National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since open ...

. Her work was recently acquired by the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. An interview with Leachman is included in the Smithsonian's

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

Oral History Program. The ''

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'' art critic Christopher Knight wrote, "Leachman intensifies a sense of intimacy that is at once sensual and contemplative, stitching together the body and mind in ways our culture usually keeps split. … Like the universe glimpsed in a grain of sand, her work plays with scale in marvelous ways." From late 2016 until early 2017, Leachman had a solo exhibition of her work, entitled 'Xylem Rays', displayed in the

Laguna Art Museum The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been known as the Laguna Beach Art Associati ...

in California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leachman, Kristin Living people Rhode Island School of Design alumni Painters from Washington, D.C. American contemporary painters Year of birth missing (living people) Painters from Virginia Artists from Los Angeles Painters from California 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women painters AFI Conservatory alumni