OCEAN CITY — In August, the Ocean City Arts Center’s gallery features work by Kimberly Camp, who was just recognized as one of the New Jersey State Heritage Fellows for 2025.
The exhibit, titled “Dolls & Painting: Tools of Communication,” features a selection of innovative and emotive dolls and paintings.
The exhibit opens Aug. 2 and runs through Aug. 29. A reception with the artist is set for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8. The Arts Center is on the second floor of the Ocean City Community Center at 1735 Simpson Ave.
Camp began her career as a professional artist more than 55 years ago. Her paintings and dolls have been shown throughout the United States in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions at institutions that include the American Craft Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the International Sculpture Center, the University of Michigan and Prizm Art Fair in Miami during Art Basel.
A 40-year retrospective of her work, “Kimberly Camp — Cross River: A Parallel Universe” was mounted by the Hunterdon Art Museum in fall 2024 through January 2025. Additional biographical info can be found on the Ocean City Arts Center website.
“I hope that viewers are able to see something of themselves and those they love in each painting, be it in the glance of one eye, the bend of a knee and an elbow, the smile on a face elated or the absences of human form where animals convey similar glances. Simply put, they serve as a reminder of the reflections of spirit and soul,” Camp said.
Camp’s dolls elevate the form of dollmaking to its proper place in fine art. They are the manifestation of a mastery of a wide range of materials and mediums, inspiring viewers to recognize the undeniably essential experience of joy.
The dolls are illustrative, ironic, evidentiary and amusing. Camp would have it no other way. She references her ancestry because of its multi-tiered richness — it’s as universal and human as the willingness to laugh at a good joke.
The Ocean City Arts Center is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call (609) 399-7628 for further information. Visit oceancityartscenter.org.