Carmen Jenkins is an award winning visual and digital media arts educator in Washington, D.C. She has been teaching visual arts in DC Public Schools since 2001. Carmen currently teaches at The School Without Walls High School.

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Carmen was born in Richmond, Virginia. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois and attended Morgan Park High School. From there, Carmen earned her BA in Graphic design from Hampton University and  her MFA in Electronic Studio Art from Howard University.

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As a teaching artist, Carmen’s desire is to provide the best arts education possible to students and their families. She teaches students how to use art as a platform to develop global competency and awareness, while using traditional and digital media as a tool to communicate ideas effectively. Carmen’s expertise also expands beyond the classroom. She has co-written curriculum with DCPS and American University to develop the “Art and Architecture” curriculum guide, participated in the “Teach it Forward” program with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and has partnered with the Washington International School and Project Zero to write curriculum with museum educators in Washington, D.C. 

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Carmen has facilitated workshops for artists and teachers at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the VSA Emerging Young Artists program.  In 2017, Carmen was nationally recognized as the PBS Digital Innovator for Washington, DC. 

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Carmen is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her works range from photography, painting, drawing and digital art. Her voice recordings can be heard at the Anacostia Community Museum in the "A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900-2000" exhibition which is on display through March 2, 2025.

 

Carmen Jenkins is mom to Jeffrey, Daniel, William and Gregory and a proud resident of Washington, D.C.