About Kia'Rae
Kia'Rae was born and raised in Montpelier, Vermont. Her artistic abilities were encouraged from a young age by her mother, Karen Hanron, who was and continues to be her biggest fan and supporter. After graduating from Montpelier High School in 2014, Kia'Rae attended the University of Vermont in Burlington, initially declaring a double major in Studio Art and Psychology. In 2016 after a semester off, she changed her major to Art Education, where she found her passion. Kia'Rae is a 2020 graduate from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Art Education and was awarded college honors for her dedication to educating students and her community.
Kia'Rae currently works with the Clemmons Family Farm as their K-12 Learning Advisor to the Windows to a Multicultural World program. For more information on the Clemmons Family Farm in Charlotte, Vermont, visit their website!
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In addition to her professional work in education as a Learning Advisor, Kia'Rae is also an active multimedia artist. Inquiries for commissioned artworks can be submitted here. If you would like to purchase a print, use this form.
Why ABA?
Kia'Rae has had an interest in art since she could hold a crayon. However, once she got to elementary school, her creativity appeared to be extinguished with cookie-cutter art projects - projects in which students produced identical works. Kia'Rae attended Montpelier High School, where she met Barbara Autstin-Hutchins, the eccentric and beloved art teacher. Barb reignited Kia'Rae's creative spark by giving interesting, out of the box assignments, encouraging and supporting her abilities, and pushing her to always take her work a step further. There was one rule in the art room - one's hands should never be idle in the studio; there is always something to do, just pick up a pencil. Kia'Rae's shorthand version of that rule is:
Always Be Arting.
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