Kim Bishop earns M.F.A. at UTSA 30 years after B.F.A.

MAY 12, 2022 — After spending almost 30 years as a high school public school art teacher, Kim Bishop decided to return to school at UTSA to earn her M.F.A.  

Born in Austin, Texas, Bishop always had a passion for creating art. It led her to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts in commercial art at Texas State University—then Southwest Texas State University—in San Marcos.

Following college, Bishop had the first of her two children, which compelled her to begin a career to help support her family. Initially, Bishop had not planned on teaching in favor of pursuing her own studio art, but with the need to provide insurance and a steady income for her family, she went back to school to obtain her teaching certification. Coming from a family line of teachers, she knew the foundations to launch a successful career in education.

“I know a lot of artists who have received their Master’s in Fine Arts from UTSA. I really have a lot of respect for them.”

Following her teaching certification in 1988, Bishop taught third- through sixth-grade art in Del Valle. In 2003, Bishop recieved her Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas State. She went on to teach second grade in Seguin before settling into high school education—first at Seguin High School and then at San Antonio-based Brackenridge and Jefferson High Schools. Bishop retired from Jefferson High School in 2017. 

Artwork from Bishop’s “Exercises in Repetition”

Since 2009, Bishop has been teaching at the Southwest School of Art (SSA), where she has focused primarily on continuing education courses for adults at night. She has also taught workshops for high school students over the summer.

“I love the Southwest School of Art and their mission of community arts education,” she said. “It is exciting to see that UTSA is going to join with SSA and continue the amazing work that they have been pioneering in downtown San Antonio.”

Over the past several years, UTSA has been aggressively growing its footprint in San Antonio. The university’s 10-year master plan calls for an additional 5.3 million square feet of space by 2028. Meanwhile, partnerships—like the merger between UTSA and SSA—have enabled the university to grow its investment in downtown San Antonio.

With her two children now graduated from college and succeeding in their own careers, going back to school was an easy decision for Bishop. UTSA was a clear choice for her as she looked forward to advancing her career and finally making her dreams come true.

“I know a lot of artists who have received their Master’s in Fine Arts from UTSA. I really have a lot of respect for them,” Bishop explained. “I actively follow their work, and I wanted to work with the professors that they have worked with. Some of the professors here have amazing reputations and incredible bodies of work that I felt I could learn a lot from.”

Bishop is now poised to cross the stage at Commencement this spring—joining nearly 1,000 UTSA students who will graduate with their master’s degrees this month. She is incredibly excited about the possibilities open to her as an artist and looks forward to a full career expressing her experiences through art. 

“My fine art career went on hold while I raised the boys, and now they are through college. Now it’s my turn to have my career,” she said. “I’m still young, I still have time to build the career that I want. I would love to have my work be showcased internationally and to have my work written about. I want to share my experiences as a woman in the social condition in which I have had to navigate over the course of my lifetime. I want to thank UTSA and all the wonderful professors who have helped make this possible.”

— Nick Ward