Yvette Kraft is an artist and educator celebrating nearly four decades of practice. Working primarily in acrylics, Ms. Kraft has had her work exhibited in numerous group and solo shows, including exhibitions at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Gallery and the Center for Collaborative Art and Visual Education in Washington, D.C. She studied with seminal color field painter Leon Berkowitz from 1982 until 1987 and continued her education as a student at the Corcoran College of Art and Design from 1992 until 2004, developing her signature gestural and highly layered style.
In addition to her creative work, Ms. Kraft has dedicated her career to helping others find empowerment through the fine arts and develop their own unique artistic voices. She began her teaching career as the art director of the Georgetown Montessori School in 1988, moving on the following year to become an art instructor for the Washington Home, a senior living facility, and to teach art to refugee children and children with special needs at Horace Mann Elementary School through 1990. In the early 1990s, Ms. Kraft taught art at Janney Elementary School and Ben Murch Elementary School while also providing private art classes for children and teens. She stayed at Ben Murch Elementary School through 1993 as an artist-in-residence, departing to accept positions as an instructor for youth in the office of a child psychiatrist and an art teacher at Randle Highlands Elementary School. After spending a year at Naylor Road Elementary School, Ms. Kraft returned to Janney Elementary School for two years and concurrently taught art classes at the Bethany Women’s Shelter between 1998 and 2000.
Most recently, Ms. Kraft taught art classes at North Street Village and the Southeast Veterans Service Center, wrapping up her teaching career in 2007 to focus on her artistic practice. She is a grantee of the George Preston Marshall Foundation and the Hattie M. Strong Foundation, and a two-time recipient of a prestigious endowment from the Cafritz Foundation. In addition to her educational career, Ms. Kraft has held numerous administrative roles for art organizations, serving as the educational director for the Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, an assistant manager at the Americana West Gallery, and the founding director of Project City People. She is a former member of the advisory board of New Art Examiner magazine and the fine arts committee of the Washington Hebrew Congregation. In recognition of her success in the fine arts, Ms. Kraft has been profiled in more than 20 editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of American Women.
