We’re very excited to have Kerry Murphy as one of our celebrity guides for September’s Gallery Night Providence. She’ll be doing our “Contemporary Art and Design Tour”, which begins at 6:20.
Kerry Murphy is an artist and art educator in the Johnston Public School system. After teaching for three years at the elementary level, she transferred to Johnston Senior High School where she co-chairs the Fine Arts Department. Mrs. Murphy received her BFA from the University of Rhode Island and her MAT in AE from Rhode Island College. For sixteen years she has embedded art history, art criticism, and aesthetics, in her studio teaching. She devotes time to facilitating professional development in art integration and personalization as well as to her new position as yearbook adviser, striving to cultivate an appreciation for design in her staff.
Mrs. Murphy traveled to multiple National Art Education Association Conferences and studied as a RI Foundation Fellow at the National Gallery of Art. She taught in the afterschool program at the Museum of Art, RISD. Inspired by those experiences, she seeks opportunities for her students to study art from original art objects through Rhode Island State Council on the Arts’ grant program, Arts Talk. Acquired funding provides her students with opportunities to experience the best of local art institutions, including RISD, Trinity Repertory Company, Ten31 Productions, and Big Nazo Labs!
Serving on the JPS Art Curriculum Alignment Committee, the Johnston Federation of Teachers’ board as a union representative, and the JHS School Improvement Team, keeps her involved in decision-making outside her classroom walls. In addition to practicing art and art education, she volunteers as a member of the board of Gallery Night Providence to advocate for the arts on a larger scale. As GN Fundraising Committee Chair, she organizes the annual gala to assist in making Gallery Night events possible.
Kerry Murphy resides with her husband, Matthew Murphy, in North Providence, and enjoys sharing her love of art with their two daughters, MaryFrancis, a recent RIC graduate, and Katherine, a student at URI.
Gallery Night Providence 