Named after Alexander Calder, the 20th Century polymath artist, UT Austin College of Fine Arts Career Services (FACS) manager Calder Kamin was always destined to work in the arts. From as early as two years old, she was already drawing noticeable human figures. So it came as no surprise when she began saving for art school in fifth grade after hearing her parents tell tales of living in Manhattan in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when they would run into Warhol and spend entire afternoons at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“I wanted to find a career in the arts that would support other artists,” wrote Kamin about her pursuit of career where she could serve as an advocate and advisor to artists. Today, she works at FACS, providing skills-building workshops, one-on-one advising, internship and job placement for students and alumni, as well as instruction for an online internship course for COFA majors.
“I can assist students with developing professional strategies, reviewing application materials, business coaching and tapping into local and national resources for career success,” writes Kamin.
After graduation from Kansas City Art Institute, she became the gallery director for Red Star Studios, a ceramics gallery, and then later an academic and career advisor, redesigning her alma mater’s professional practice curriculum, developing an alumni mentor program and organizing an annual off-campus exhibition for KCAI students.
Students were hearing from professionals well into their career journey, but their stories were not relatable to the issues and opportunities young artists were experiencing in 2011. I wanted to see young alumni talk to students about how they gained professional experiences during school and the steps they took in their early years after their undergraduate education. The curriculum also needed to emphasize business and life skills not taught in the classroom like taxes, legal issues, business models and marketing.
Before joining UT, Kamin was the Artist Liaison for the City of Austin Small Business Program, helping artists in navigate city resources and procedures. But Kamin is incredible at her job for the same reason that Studio Art professors at the Department of Art and Art History excel at what they do for students—because she is active in her field as a practicing artist. She was the 2018-19 artist-in-residence at the San Antonio Children’s Museum and has a solo exhibition, What a Mess, on view at the Austin Public Library’s Central Gallery through May 24, 2019.
“For both projects, I created an entire world from garbage about how we make better choices for our future and executed multiple hands-on workshops. The mission for my creative practice is to inspire others to see potential in by-products and be courageous and creative about the problems facing our future,” writes Kamin.
Before I made creatures from garbage, I made them out of clay. A few years after earning my undergraduate degree, I started asking serious questions about my practice. Nature never wastes. Only humans are wasteful, and I want a future without trash. From now on, my approach is to scavenge for materials like the urban animals I sculpt. Through the help of friends, family and followers, my work has diverted thousands of plastic bags and pounds other materials from landfills. My mission is to change the culture around waste. Nature’s endless ability to adapt and reuse motivates me to eliminate waste and reimagine it as art.
Kamin’s activism has led her to collaborations with many organizations, including, most recently, the Disney Channel for the 30th Anniversary of the Little Mermaid. The Disney Channel invited Kamin to appear in two PSAs that inspire their audiences to be creative about waste and think about how to not contribute to ocean pollution. She was also commissioned to build an Ariel sculpture from trash that will be auctioned off later this year with proceeds benefitting Heal the Bay, a group dedicated to keeping LA’s beaches clean. The first PSA video launched on Earth Day and the second will be filmed in Austin during Kamin’s What a Mess exhibition at the Central Library where she will reveal her Ariel homage.
“There isn’t an on or off switch,” Kamin says. “I am always an artist, creator, and creative problem solver and can apply my experiences to my role advising students about their career path.”
To see Kamin’s work, visit her website or follow her on Instagram @calderful.