About Lauren. R. Lyde

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Lauren R. Lyde is a native Baltimorean. She received her MFA in Community Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art and her BS in visual communication from Towson University. The illustration curriculum focused on the use of diverse media to communicate written and verbal ideas. By graduation she came to understand the word media to include using whatever was at her disposal. Her training at Towson along with continuing education courses in illustration at Pratt Institute prepared her for an array of art jobs that she courted in ensuing years; from a window designer and retail illustrator in Manhattan to an artistic program director at the Jacob Riis Settlement House in Queens. These experiences are reflected in her ability to guide audiences to look beyond the obvious in her own work.

 

In 2013, after a searing soul-searching journey to change the direction of her career as an artist she enrolled in the master of arts, Exhibition Design program at the Corcoran School of Art and Design where she has had the opportunity to examine the role art has in public life from the perspective of curators, designers and educators. The year long experience affirmed that her life’s work will be involved with creating and sharing art as opposed to designing creative spaces where art will be exhibited; and in 2014 she enrolled in Maryland Institute College of Art Community Arts MFA program. 

 

Today, from her bully pulpit as a practicing community artist, she finds herself uniquely positioned to use her training as a creative being for social uplift, bringing to light issues and concerns of less visible communities. These later works reflect her passion for the arts and her personal commitment to urban youth and their families.