Karen Jaimes is a Latina artist who was raised by her Salvadoran mother in downtown Yonkers, NY, which was an impoverished concrete jungle in the 80s and 90s. Many of her peers were first generation students whose parents immigrated to the city due to instability in their homeland. As the daughter of a Civil War refugee, Karen navigated between two cultures and languages in a multicultural city. The non-profit art programs at nearby museums, a loving community of matriarchs, and the well-rounded curriculum of Manhattanville College led her to value arts education, social justice, and community outreach. KJ is an artist-activist-educator who sculpts clay to address sociopolitical issues and question the systems in place. The transhistorical and transcultural nature of clay makes it the perfect material for metaphor.

Karen holds a MFA in ceramics from SUNY New Paltz and a BFA from Manhattanville College with a minor in political science. She is an enthusiastic ceramics teacher who enjoys sharing her knowledge of clay’s vast properties that span across many fields, including anthropology, geology, and chemistry. She is a seasoned educator who has worked with people of all ages and learning capacities at community centers, public schools and universities, art centers, museums, and summer camps. She especially loves working with senior citizens and underrepresented populations. Karen employs a therapeutic approach in the classroom and draws out students’ collective knowledge to foster community and connection.

​

​Her sculptures have been exhibited in the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, the Katonah Museum of Art, the Barrett Art Center and the Dorsky Museum of Art among others.