Today we’d like to introduce you to Rainey King.
Hi Rainey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up between St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri, in a family rooted in labor, storytelling, and survival, which shaped my artistic journey and personal background. From childhood, I was always making things, collecting objects, drawing, cooking, building, and paying close attention to my surroundings. These early experiences laid the foundation for my work long before I had words for them.
My path has never been linear. I worked in kitchens, taught visual art, traveled, hitchhiked, worked on farms, studied education, and eventually built a multidisciplinary practice that brings together painting, sculpture, installation, social practice, sustainability, and community programming. Sharing this diverse background aims to inspire curiosity and openness in those I connect with, encouraging collaboration and new ideas.
For several years, I taught high school visual art and led a department while developing workshops, exhibitions, and public projects outside the classroom. That experience taught me that creativity is not limited to artists. It is a tool for confidence, problem-solving, connection, and imagining new possibilities.
I later co-founded Curated, a creative experience design studio that develops workshops, exhibitions, retreats, educational programs, and community-centered experiences. At the same time, my own studio practice continued to grow through juried exhibitions, public interventions, national and international shows, and an artist residency in Medellín, Colombia.
Currently, I am a full-time MFA student in Design for Sustainability at the Savannah College of Art and Design. My work now centers on exploring memory, labor, inheritance, material reuse, and systems of care through found objects, reclaimed materials, public gestures, and storytelling, highlighting my ongoing artistic focus.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it has not been a smooth road.
Much of my life and work has been shaped by instability, survival, and the need to adapt quickly. I grew up around difficult family circumstances, financial uncertainty, incarceration, abuse, and constant change. Those experiences taught me to be resourceful, but they also meant I often had to create stability for myself.
My professional path has been equally nonlinear. I have worked in kitchens, schools, museums, galleries, community programs, and independent creative spaces while continuing to build my own artistic practice. For years, I balanced full-time teaching with exhibitions, workshops, graduate school, and the development of Curated. There were periods of burnout, limited resources, unstable workspaces, and feeling like I was building several lives at once.
I have also navigated serious personal challenges, including recovering from a car accident, major family losses, and making the difficult decision to leave a career that no longer supported my health or long-term growth.
The challenge has always been learning how to keep moving without losing myself in the process.
These experiences gave me resilience, empathy, and a deep understanding of how systems affect people. They also taught me that care, rest, adaptability, and community are not secondary to success; they are what make success sustainable.
I am still learning how to build a life and practice that can hold both ambition and well-being. The road has been difficult, but it has also shaped the values at the center of everything I do.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Here is a version that feels authentic to your journey and avoids sounding like a résumé. It focuses on your philosophy as much as your accomplishments.
My work exists at the intersection of art, education, sustainability, hospitality, and community. I create paintings, sculptures, installations, public interventions, and participatory experiences that invite people to slow down, observe, and connect more deeply with themselves, one another, and the places they inhabit.
Working with reclaimed materials, found objects, family archives, and everyday artifacts, I explore themes of memory, labor, care, resilience, and belonging. Much of my practice is rooted in systems thinking—looking beyond individual objects to understand the relationships between people, materials, histories, and environments. Whether I am creating work in the studio or facilitating a community workshop, I am ultimately interested in designing the conditions where creativity and connection can emerge.
Alongside my studio practice, I founded Curated, a creative experience design studio that develops workshops, educational programming, artist residencies, public art projects, and community partnerships. I believe creativity is not reserved for artists; it is a fundamental human capacity that helps us solve problems, build relationships, and imagine better futures.
One of the things I am most proud of is building a practice that refuses to separate making from mentoring. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and I am currently pursuing my MFA in Design for Sustainability at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where I continue researching how art, design, and ecology can shape more thoughtful communities and the spaces we exist in.
What sets my work apart is that I do not simply create objects; I create experiences, relationships, memories, and living systems that continue evolving long after an exhibition or workshop has ended. At the heart of everything I do is a simple belief: creativity is a way of living, and meaningful change begins with learning to notice one’s human potential.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I think we are entering a moment where creativity is becoming increasingly important; not only for artists, but for our planet. Mindful people curate a mindful earth. The challenges we face today are interconnected, and solving them requires curiosity, collaboration, empathy, and the ability to imagine alternatives.
I hope that my work helps people remember that creativity is not something reserved for a select few. It is a practice of paying attention, asking better questions, and finding new ways to care for one another and the world around us.
At the end of the day, I do not just want people to leave with an artwork or buy my artwork. I want them to leave seeing their own lives, communities, and possibilities differently.
Pricing:
- Public workshops: Starting at $35–$85 per person (varies by experience and venue)
- Private group workshops: Custom pricing based on group size, location, materials, and duration
- Schools, universities, libraries & nonprofits: Educational and nonprofit rates available
- Public art, installations & community engagement projects: Project-based pricing following an initial consultation
- Travel: Mobile workshops and facilitation available throughout the United States and internationally
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Raineyking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainey__king/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raineyking/
