E.M. Kinkade – Dyal is a contemporary artist who lives on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas. She practices in multiple materials and is also a full-time teacher, holding the position of Technical Theatre Director at Canyon High School.

            EMKD grew up the youngest of three daughters to a journalist in the Air Force. Her formative years saw her living in Germany, then California, and finally settling in San Antonio in 1999.

            From a very young age, EMKD has always gravitated towards the visual arts. She found writing and numbers difficult to process; instead her childhood days were filled with drawing and collaging as both a means of escape and a way to communicate. When she was 12 years old, EMKD discovered technical theatre; she was bit by the theatre bug from that point on. Technical theatre and design became her primary focus and means of expression.

            EMKD attended Texas State University (eat ‘em up cats!). She majored in theatre design under the direction of Michelle Ney, Sarah Maines, and Sara Lee Hughes. The latter of which became her most trusted artist mentor and friend. She is well trained in all areas of technical theatre, but considers her greatest strengths to be Set Design and Scenic Painting.

            In her junior year, EMKD experienced a bit of an identity crisis. She decided the only way to deal with this issue was to declare a minor in art and get out of her theatre comfort zone. In the summer of 2013, on a whim, EMKD chose to study Drawing and Renaissance Art History in Florence, Italy. That summer she also attended the Venice Biennale. This trip and the Biennale would prove to be the most fortuitous and pivotal moment for her.

            Standing in a gallery, surrounded by amazing works of art, staring down the long corridor of the Arsenal, EMKD understood then that art was something more than just canvases collecting dust in textbooks. Art was alive, and it was something that she could actively participate in.

From there, EMKD graduated with a BFA in Theatre Design (with an emphasis in Set Design and Lighting Design) and a minor in Art. After graduating, EMKD became a founding member of The Shop Girls, a mural painting group out of Lockhart, Texas. With The Shop Girls, she had public works in Bastrop and San Marcos, Texas. After working with the girls EMKD combined her two passions of art and theatre into one when she began working for The McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio.

            EMKD was charged with painting a 40’ x 16’ backdrop for the opera The Love of Three Oranges, originally designed by Maurice Sendak. She also restored three original set pieces and she was able to participate in a panel discussion of Maurice Sendak’s work and her process. From there she worked briefly for both HBO and Fox companies as a scenic painter in Austin. During this time, she began developing her practice and learning different techniques and skills. She later worked for the San Antonio Museum of Art as a gallery attendant, an invaluable experience not just for her practice but for her personal life as well. It is while at SAMA that she met the man who would become her husband, and it is where she decided to finally become a teacher.

EMKD earned her teaching license through Texas Teachers and promptly went to work teaching art at Lanier High School in San Antonio. Now she finds herself back in the theatre exploring all of her passions and interests as the Technical Theatre Director at Canyon High School (go cougs!). In addition to her duties as a teacher and TD, EMKD continues to work on her personal artistic practice.

            She continually strives to learn and develop new skills. She considers her work to be based in realism and heavily influenced by her time in theatre, evident in the use of visual narrative. She likes to explore different concepts and styles, as well as materials. She considers her work to be fluid but with a focus on identity. She has never been one to be pigeon-holed, frequently growing restless when working in one concept or style for too long. Although she does admit that most of her work comes back to identity and environment and how we tell stories. In the end she blames her upbringing and her training in theatre for the mercurial nature of her art.

            Above all else, EMKD considers herself a happily married farmer’s wife, mother, artist, and teacher.

 She is a member of the San Antonio Arts League and the Scenic Painters Guild of America.