Carolyn Mary Kleefeld

Carolyn Mary Kleefeld is an American author, poet, and visual artist. She is the author of 19 books, has a line of fine art cards, and has had numerous gallery and museum awards and exhibitions between 1981 and the present, in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other major cities.

Early life

Kleefeld was born in Catford, England, and moved to Southern California at age four, growing up in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, with a later move to Malibu. She studied art and psychology at UCLA. She currently lives in Big Sur, California.

Kleefeld married David Campagna on Valentine’s Day 2017. Campagna died three weeks later from a long-term illness.

Career

Carolyn Mary Kleefeld is the author of nineteen books, some of which are used as inspirational texts in universities and healing centers. Over the past two decades, she has created an extensive and diverse body of paintings and drawings, ranging in style from romantic figurative to abstract. Her art is featured internationally in galleries, museums, private collections, and multimedia presentations.

Kleefeld is also considered to be one of the leading thinkers in the Consciousness movement; she was interviewed for Mavericks of the Mind—a notable collection of interviews by David Jay Brown and Rebecca Novick, that also includes Terence McKenna, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Laura Huxley, and others—and she appeared on panel discussions with some of the leaders in this movement, and other notable experts on the expansion and exploration of consciousness, at UCLA in 1995 and the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1993.

Kleefeld's writings include poetry, prose, and art. Her work has been translated into Korean, Romanian, Japanese, Italian, Sicilian, Chinese, Arabic, Bengali, and Bulgarian. Her poetry book, Vagabond Dawns, is published in both English/Korean and English/Romanian bilingual editions. Carolyn’s book of philosophical aphorisms, Soul Seeds: Revelations and Drawings, is published in bilingual English/Korean and English/Japanese editions, a trilingual English/Italian/Sicilian edition, and will be published in bilingual Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Chinese, Catalan, and Spanish editions in 2017. Kleefeld’s book, The Divine Kiss will be published in a bilingual English/Japanese edition in 2017. Kleefeld's poems are featured along with the writings of seven other acclaimed woman writers in a continuing course, “The Other Half of the Sky: Eight Woman Writers,” taught at Swansea University in Wales, England.

Kleefeld’s artwork has appeared in numerous galleries and museums over the past 25 years.

The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California exhibited a retrospective of her paintings and drawings and published an exhibition catalog, Carolyn Mary Kleefeld: Visions from Big Sur, with art from the exhibit and a commentary by museum curator and director, Michael Zakian, Ph.D. (2008).

Other major solo exhibitions include “30 years of Abstract Visions” at the Gallery at the Ventana Inn in Big Sur, California (2014), “The Divine Kiss” at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Santa Barbara, California (2013) and Shreveport, Louisiana (2014), “Art, Poetry, and Reflective Prose”at the Walter Lee Avery Gallery at the Seaside, California City Hall (2002), “Parallel Universes: Visions for the 21st Century” at the Stowitts Museum & Library in Pacific Grove, California (2001), “A Retrospective from Abstract to Neo- Impressionism” at the corporate offices of “333 Bush Street,” in San Francisco, California (1999), and a poetry reading and art exhibit at Gallerie Illuminati in Santa Monica, California (1990). Kleefeld's art has also been exhibited at The American Jewish University, Los Angeles (2016), The B.J. Spoke Gallery, Huntington, New York (2014), The Old Courthouse Art Center, Woodstock, Illinois (2014), The New York Hall of Science, New York, NY (2013), the Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, Louisiana (2013), Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Illinois (2001), University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California (2001), National Arts Club in New York, New York (2001), and Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, among others.

Ms. Kleefeld’s award-winning art is in the permanent collections, among others, of The Downey Museum of Art, The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, The Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, and The Dylan Thomas Theatre, in Swansea, Wales. In addition to being featured in art magazines, textbooks, and on the cover of poetry books, her art can be found in the personal collections of Ted Turner and many others, in the estates of Laura Archera Huxley and Dr. Timothy Leary, as well as at the United Nations.

• Nominations for The Pushcart Prize, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
• World Poetry Empowered Poet Award / Vancouver, Canada, 2014
• Il Meleto Di Guido Gozanno Award for Poetry / Torino, Italy, 2014
• Honorable Mention, Poetry Contest / The Beat Museum / San Francisco, CA, 2007
• First place, Short Story Contest: 101 Words / Monterey County Weekly / Monterey, CA, 2006
• First Place, Light, Space & Time Art Competition: Abstraction, Judge’s Award for Excellence, John Nichols Gallery, Santa Paula, CA, 2001
• Judge’s Award for Excellence, John Nichols Gallery, Santa Paula, CA, 1998
• Guest Eulogist / Allen Ginsberg Memorial Service / Wadsworth Theater / Los Angeles, CA, 1997

Library Archive / Monterey, California The Monterey Public Library has accepted Ms. Kleefeld's archive of work in its California History Room at 625 Pacific Street in Monterey. All of her books are catalogued there, as well as book reviews, press releases, newspaper and magazine articles, etc. from 1979 when her first book, Climates of the Mind was published, up through the present. Students and other patrons will have access to her work for their research and studies.

Museum of Modern Art / Archive The Museum of Modern Art in New York has expanded their archive of Ms. Kleefeld's work, accepting her books which include her artwork, and book reviews, press releases, newspaper and magazine articles, etc from 1991 with her solo exhibit at Gallerie Illuminati in Santa Monica, California, up through the present. Students and other patrons will have continuing access to her work for their research and studies.

• Ryan Masters. "Big Sur’s Carolyn Mary Kleefeld expands her churning catalog of poetry and art with Vagabond Dawns", Monterey County Weekly, November 2009
• Jonathan Weichsel. "Visions from Big Sur", Valley Scene Online Magazine, 2008
• Nichole Kleist. "Pepperdine Museum Hosts Former Malibu Resident’s Colorful Work", Malibu Surfside News, September 2008
• Stephanie Pope. " A Poetic Eye; A Life Cherishing Force: The Alchemy of Possibility" ,"SkyLine Magazine", June 2007
• "Carolyn Mary Kleefeld: Colorful as her art", Monterey County Herald, September 8, 2002 - E3 Brunch Entertainment.