Kari Keach Marboe

On September 30, 2022, California College of the Arts hosted a tribute service in San Francisco to honor and celebrate the contributions of Kari Marboe, Assistant Professor, to CCA and the art community.

Born in New York, NY and growing up in Larchmont, NY, Kari graduated from Mamaroneck High School and studied Art History at Oberlin College, Ohio, before transferring to CCA to earn her BFA in Ceramics, with honors, in 2008. She earned her MFA in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012, where she received the Eisner Award for Art Practice.

Kari was a devoted teacher with a special gift for inspiring students, expanding their practices, and connecting them with the artistic community. She was a lecturer and assistant adjunct professor at CCA, UC Berkeley and Mills College before becoming a full-time faculty member at CCA. At CCA, she served on the Oakland Campus Legacy Committee, acting Chair in the Ceramics program, and Assistant Professor in the First Year Program and Upper Division Interdisciplinary Studios.

As an artist, Kari fostered the exploration of rigorous and innovative research and the power of collaboration across artistic disciplines to create art with compelling human stories. She exhibited her work at Mills College Art Museum (Oakland, CA), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, The Museum of Craft and Design, Southern Exposure/Capp Street Project, Root Division and the Market Street Prototyping Festival (San Francisco, CA), Berkeley Art Center (Berkeley, CA), A-B Projects (Los Angeles, CA), Roll Up Project (Oakland, CA) Artists of Northern California 2021 (Sonoma, CA), NCECA 2022 and Yolo Arts, Pence Gallery and Epperson Gallery (Sacramento, CA), St. Mary's College Museum of Art (Moraga, CA), Museum of Northern California Art (Chico, CA), Wave Pool Gallery (Cincinnati, OH), and the Jane Hartsook Galleries at Greenwich House Pottery (New York NY), and has a permanent installation at the Latham Square Memorial Fountain in Oakland, CA. She was elected to membership in the International Academy of Ceramics in 2021.

Kari's joyous spirit will be fondly remembered by her parents, Barbara Hewson and Charles Marboe, her sister, Elinor, her extended family, friends, art colleagues and students across the country, her friends and neighbors in San Rafael, CA and throughout the Bay Area.

Please consider joining Kari's family and friends in supporting the Kari Marboe Endowed Lectureship at California College of the Arts. This annual lectureship will honor ,in perpetuity, her commitment to creative collaboration, exploring curiosities and themes of our common humanity. To support, visit Kari Marboe Endowed Lectureship at California College of the Arts