Thomas Kerr

Thomas Kerr is a tenured Associate Professor of Art and Design at St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. John's University, with over 30 years of professional experience as an illustrator in the New York metropolitan area. Teaching drawing and illustration courses while maintaining an active professional practice, Professor Kerr bridges academic instruction with real-world artistic application.

Education:

• M.F.A. in Visual Journalism, School of Visual Arts
• Graduate, Alberta College of Art & Design

Professor Kerr's artistic practice spans multiple media and techniques, with particular expertise in editorial illustration that appears on Op-Ed pages of major national publications. His work in traditional dip quill pen & ink responds directly to political and social issues, often created same-day to meet editorial deadlines. Kerr has illustrated pieces by prominent figures including Al Gore, Wendy Wasserstein, Umberto Eco, and Kurt Vonnegut, with his illustrations syndicated through Now What Media via the INX group. His recent book Ink In The Water chronicles a decade of award-winning work for The Wave newspaper, New York City's oldest weekly paper.

Selected Awards:

• Communication Arts Award of Excellence (2005)
• 3x3 Magazine Award of Excellence (2006)
• Society of News Design Awards of Excellence
• Society of Publication Design Awards of Excellence
• American Illustration (AI37) (2018)
• New York Publishers Association 3rd Place Editorial Art Portfolio (2020)

Professor Kerr serves on the masthead of The Wave newspaper as a contributing illustrator and maintains an active exhibition record with shows spanning from 1989 to 2024 at prestigious venues including the Museum of Caricature in Poland, the New School, and various galleries internationally. His work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York, and he maintains active memberships in the Society of Illustrators and as a Signature Member of the Brooklyn Watercolor Society.