Eliaichi Kimaro

Over the past 40 years, Eliaichi Kimaro has used writing, music, photography, film, storytelling, and now mixed media art to explore her personal and family narratives. 

She worked for 12 years as a crisis counselor before her life took a creative detour. In 2003, she found filmmaking, and went on to produce over 80 videos for nonprofits addressing social justice issues. 

Her documentary film A Lot Like You (2011) explores her family’s stories through the lens of culture, race, class and gender. As a mixed-race, first-generation American (Tanzanian father and Korean mother), Eliaichi makes art to better understand her place in this flow between cultural inheritance and legacy. The film won 6 Best Documentary Awards on the film festival circuit before being broadcast nationally on PBS. After years traveling around the world with her film, Eliaichi distilled her keynotes into her 2016 TEDxSeattle talk, “Why the World Needs Your Story.”

Since 2014, painting has been her focus. Eliaichi was selected for the Center on Contemporary Art Residency and the Artist Trust Fellowship. She’s received multiple grants from CityArtist, 4Culture and Artist Trust for her work in art and film. Recently, she received the McMillen Foundation Arts Fellowship, the Denis Diderot Grant and the Chateau Orquevaux International Artist Residency in France.

Eliaichi has exhibited nationally and internationally. She is a member of Columbia City Gallery, COCA Gallery, and has served on numerous Boards, grant panels, film festival juries, and museum exhibition committees.