Kimberley McNeil

Kim was born in the culturally-diverse land of poutine and smoked meat (Montréal). She migrated across the country to Calgary in 2002 when she decided to see if the Rocky Mountains were all they were cracked up to be; they were.

Kim’s been drawing since she could hold a pencil. No, since she could spread paint around with her hands. Her parents considered her early works contemporary. Her first solo art exhibition was in 1982 when her work was displayed on her family’s dependable avocado-coloured fridge.

As life has a way of doing, Kim’s took her away from the arts. For almost twenty years, Kim didn’t so much as look at a sheet of drawing paper. Then, after searching for an outlet to manage the trauma caused by several painful life events, Kim went back to the one thing that felt natural to her: art.

Under the tutelage and encouragement of her art teacher and mentor, Michelle Austen, Kim picked up a paintbrush in 2015; she hasn’t looked back.

In 2018, she was selected as a semi-finalist of the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series. In 2019, her work was selected for the Alberta Society of Artists Nocturn Group Exhibition and the 17th Annual Leighton Art Centre Juried Members Show. In 2020, Leighton Art Centre chose her again for their juried show and Blue Crow Gallery invited her to be part of their 4th Annual Summer Group Show.

No matter where Kim has lived art has always been her home. She’s excited for the opportunity to have her work grace the walls of homes and galleries. She’ll try not to use her hands. No promises though.