Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Ware.
Hi Kristin, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Art has always been and will always be a part of my life. The trick has been trying to figure out the best fit! Since I was small, I have wanted to work in a museum. Who knew that a childhood visit to the exhibit of King Tut at the Natural History Museum in D.C. would lead to a lifelong pursuit of cultural heritage and artistic expression? Then again, my family’s fondness for the visual arts probably didn’t hurt.
Born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, I graduated summa cum laude from George Mason University with a Bachelor’s in Art History and a double minor in Classical Studies and Mediterranean Art & Archaeology. I completed an honors thesis that explored the origin, context, and meaning of the continuous Ionic frieze along the interior colonnade of the Parthenon. And I interned at the Art History Department researching plaster casts on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I received my Master in Art History from The University of Texas at Austin. For my graduate thesis, I examined a Classical Greek vase at the San Antonio Museum of Art believed to portray the climactic conclusion of Aeschylus’ Oresteia. While a student at UT Austin, I volunteered at the Blanton Museum of Art and conducted extensive research on their collection of plaster casts. And I interned in the Photography Collection at the Harry Ransom Center.
In 2011, I interned at the San Antonio Conservation Society, where I accessioned and cataloged photographs in the restricted collection. I also researched costume and set designs for the McNay Art Museum’s fall exhibition of the Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts. And I interned with the Collections and Archives Department at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, maintaining permanent exhibitions, responding to research inquiries, photographing collection materials for research articles, and inventorying the 17th-century print collection. For almost two years, I was the Exhibitions Project Manager at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, a non-profit museum dedicated to the art and history of the West, located in the heart of downtown San Antonio. How often can someone say, “I was on the team that opened a brand new museum?!” Talk about an amazing experience! Some of my photographs (uncredited) of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park appear on window treatments in the second-floor galleries.
Currently, I work for Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, where I enjoy helping students find their own unique paths. I collect art and go to exhibits regularly, but the art I choose to focus on now is my photography.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No journey is complete without a few potholes. After I graduated with my Masters from UT Austin, I fell into a big one, the ultimate Catch-22: I needed the experience to get a job, but I needed a job to get the experience. My degrees and research experience just weren’t enough. Thankfully, I was fortunate, and my family allowed me to move in with them for a while, so I resigned from my job and moved to San Antonio. I started volunteering with the San Antonio Conservation Society and interned at the Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts at the McNay Art Museum. Shortly thereafer, I got the shot of a lifetime when I became the Exhibit Project Manager of the Briscoe Western Art Museum.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a photographer. I received my first point-and-shoot camera when I was 7 years old. The love of photography started simply as just a hobby, something to capture all the beautiful scenery experienced while on family vacations. Then in high school, I had the opportunity to work in a traditional black-and-white darkroom. The first time I watched as an image I took in an instant slowly, magically came to life in a pool of developer, I was hooked. But I wasn’t a fan of class; I didn’t want anyone else telling me what to shoot, which frame to print, or how to finalize my photograph to exhibit. I took two years of high school photography and taught myself the rest, experimenting along the way. I specialize in traditional black-and-white, landscape, and toy camera photography.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am stubborn, and I admit it! My family is highly strong-willed, which has served us well during difficult times. I may be a short, quiet blonde woman obsessed with all things creative, but I am stronger than many people have given me credit for. If you knock me down, I will get back up. Don’t try to change me!
Pricing:
- $25-$175
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whiteislandphoto.com
- Instagram: kwarephoto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-l-ware-6902861b
Image Credits
Kristin L. Ware
