Kelly Popoff

Kelly Popoff is an American visual artist and educator currently teaching at Greenfield Community College, Massachusetts. She holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2001), and a BFA from Miami University, Ohio (Oxford, Ohio). Her socially charged artwork spans over two decades, focusing on childhood experiences, Americana, and domestic spaces.

• Education: MFA (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), BFA (Miami University, Oxford, Ohio)
• Grants: Vermont Studio Center (2013, 2015, 2017), Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Sustainable Arts Foundation, Durham Arts Council

Popoff’s artistic practice combines oil, wax, gold leaf, and found materials to explore personal histories, repressed memories, and unresolved relationships. Her exhibitions since 2008 include a 2016 solo show at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Recent works like The Red Room (2025) and Animal Life in the Great Deeps (2025) integrate 1916 biological texts by J. Arthur Thompson, merging scientific history with contemporary emotional narratives. Key themes include childhood, identity, and societal structures.

• Scientific Awards
  • Two artist grants (2013, 2015) from Vermont Studio Center
  • Fellowship/residency (2017) from Vermont Studio Center
  • Multiple grants from community foundations

Her Bedroom series (2018–2023) and Lockdown Paper Works (2020–2025) examine domestic spaces and psychological states. She uses mixed media on muslin, canvas, and found paper to create introspective visual dialogues.