Larry McKim

1952 - 2019

Larry McKim

01/13/1952 ~ 02/07/2019

Frenchtown, New Jersey

Celebrated New Jersey artist and retired art teacher, Larry McKim, died at age 67 following a heart attack.

Larry spent his life producing art in an effort to create imagery with complexity and uniqueness. He showed his work nationally in more than 15 solo and 30 group exhibitions. He was awarded multiple fellowships from the NJ State Council on the Arts as well as two from the Fine Arts Work Center at Provincetown and one from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Larry's work is in the New Jersey State Museum and several commercial collections.

Born in Ellensburg, Washington, to Melba and Lester McKim, Larry was the oldest of five children. When his family moved to Bellevue in his youth, Larry studied bassoon and performed in the Seattle Youth Symphony. Larry began college at Lewis & Clark in Portland and completed his BA at University of Washington where he studied with Jacob Lawrence. He earned his MFA at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where he was mentored by John Goodyear.

Larry taught art and photography throughout his career, including 30 years at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, where he taught a full range of courses and developed new curricula for the district. Larry pioneered innovative approaches to exhibiting student work inside and outside of the school environment.

Larry is survived by his wife Elizabeth (Broughman), mother and siblings David McKim, Marcia Levin, and Rita Buyco of Seattle and Colleen Gill of Connecticut, his two children, Montana Katz McKim of Massachusetts and Cooper Katz McKim of Wyoming, and his stepchildren, Pat and Esther Gehman of Frenchtown. Larry will also be missed by his ex-wife, Carla Katz. He was a gentle, loving, and considerate father. He imparted lessons that will keep him alive forever.