Telling Our Story: Kendall Robinson on Curiosity, Courage, and Cultural Memory
By Chad Eric Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts
When Kendall Robinson arrived at Howard University, she didn’t come as an art major.
“I applied to Howard as an African American Studies major, and I was on the pre-med track,” she says. “I had a dream of coming to Howard and being a plastic surgeon and incorporating artistry and medicine into one.”
That plan didn’t last long.
"I got to campus and during my first week, I changed my major to art, and I’ve never looked back."
Today, Kendall is a first-year MFA painting student in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, returning to Howard as both an alum and a graduate student, a perspective that gives her work unusual depth.
Finding Home on the Yard
Kendall, who is from Atlanta, Georgia, knew she wanted to attend an HBCU. Her top choices were Spelman and Howard, but Howard ultimately won her over.
“When I went on Howard’s campus for the first time in 2016, it just felt like home,” she recalls. “The sun was shining on Founders perfectly that day. There were people on the Yard. It was lively. It was wonderful.”
She adds, “I just fell in love when I first stepped on campus, and I knew since visiting, this was going to be my home.”
Choosing Art, and Choosing Herself
Although Kendall always loved art, she didn’t initially see it as a viable career path.
“I think because I didn’t really have a lot of art role models, or people that could provide insight on how you could make a sustainable and successful career from the arts, I was pushed more toward the pre-med science track,” she says.
That changed once she arrived at Howard.
“I do think that studying art at an HBCU was the perfect place for me to do so.”
A Non-Traditional Journey, Intentionally Taken
After graduating in 2022, Kendall didn’t immediately pursue graduate school. Instead, she pursued the world.
“I lived in Spain for a year teaching English,” she says. “I did two murals out there. I lived in a country I had never visited before. I was able to pick up Spanish while I was over there.”
She describes this time as essential to her growth.
“I basically just set off on this quest of getting my real-world lived experience so that I could eventually inform my art.”
Now 25, Kendall has visited all of the New 7 Wonders of the World and traveled to 39 countries.
I can tell how even the way that I’m coming up and looking for inspiration in my pieces now is different. I’ve been to various parts of the diaspora in Africa and South America, so I can pull from these patterns and these experiences and create work that ties everything together.
Last year, Kendall even appeared as a guest on The Tamron Hall Show, where she shared the bold decision to buy a one-way ticket to a country where she didn’t speak the language. In the interview, she walks through where she landed, how she navigated daily life, how she found work, and what the experience ultimately taught her. Watch the clip below to hear her story firsthand.
Reclaiming History Through the Black ABCs
That global perspective is central to Kendall’s current project, a painted reinterpretation of the historic Black ABC cards.
“I was always enamored with the Black ABCs,” she explains. “I thought it would be a really cool idea to come up with a painted version of these cards in a way to explore education in America within the Black community.”
Her concept is layered with symbolism.
“The cards are going to be on an Underground Railroad quilt, and there are going to be school supplies on it,” Kendall says. “I feel like it represents how we were able to essentially teach ourselves and learn from one another when education wasn’t readily available, and we weren’t allowed to.”
She adds, “And then when we were allowed to, how we made it our own. And in typical Black people fashion, we looked really cool doing it.”
The response has been overwhelming.
“I started sharing it on social media maybe a week or two before Black History Month, and the response has been insane,” she says. “Collectively, we’ve reached just under a million views across all the platforms.”
From Howard to Art Basel
Last December, Kendall was also part of Howard’s Bison at Basel activation at Art Basel in Miami, her first time attending the prestigious art fair.
“For an artist, Basel is like the Super Bowl or the Grammys or the Oscars,” she says. “So I was super honored and humbled to be there.”
She sold a piece during the exhibition, an affirming milestone.
“It was definitely confirmation for me that I’m on the right path and this is what I should be doing.”
Returning as a Graduate Student
Now back at Howard as an MFA student, Kendall says graduate study has transformed how she understands her practice.
“I’ve always had the skill set,” she explains, “but grad school is equipping me with the vocabulary and the knowledge and the context for all of these pieces.”
It’s one thing to have the skill set, but it’s another thing to be well-rounded and fully able to not only show others how to paint, but teach others about the subject as well.
Advice to Fellow Bison
Kendall describes herself as a “professional shot-shooter.”
“One of my mantras in life is that I will never tell myself no first,” she says. “I would rather throw my hat in the ring and let the chips fall where they may.”
For students considering the arts, her advice is direct.
When you tell people you’re an art major, there’s sometimes doubt. So I feel like it’s really important to constantly put your work out there and show people that the arts do matter.
Curiosity as a Way of Life
If there’s one thing Kendall wants readers to understand about her, it’s her curiosity.
“I’m a highly curious person,” she says. “People might not think that I’m a big nerd, but watching National Geographic and Discovery Channel and Animal Planet fostered that curiosity.”
She believes that curiosity shapes everything she creates.
“I’m always asking, ‘How does that work?’ and ‘Why does that do that?’ And that informs my art.”
Her final takeaway is simple, but urgent.
Take the risk. Don’t count yourself out. Fortune favors the bold.
Learn more Kendall Robinson by visiting fineartbykendallrobinson.com and following @fineartbykendallrobinson on Instagram.
