Posey is a native Washingtonian, who was born to Jazz musicians. She knew she wanted to be an artist immediately when she was a small child when in kindergarten and she discovered drawing with crayons and making her paper dolls. Posey had learning difficulties as a young girl and throughout her formative years she struggled with academics, but continued making art which became her sanctuary.

At Montgomery College, under the tutelage of Robert Brown and Robert Cohen, she began to experience art as not only something to do and take safety with, but to understand and to use as a guide to relate to the world around her. She took field trips to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. It was during her visit to Maryland Institute College of Art on the Baltimore trip that she realized she wanted to attend that institution. Posey also went on an extended backpacking trip throughout Europe for 6 months between her time at Montgomery College and University of Maryland where she would finish her degree. After graduating from University of Maryland with a BA, she applied to MICA and was accepted.

With her masters from MICA, she moved to New York for 2 years, where she lived and exhibited her artwork. After moving back to DC, she became a free-lance commercial artist doing murals in Adams Morgan restaurants while continuing to be a studio painter. She taught locally at various arts organizations in the area part-time. She exhibited her artwork locally in the private galleries of Georgetown; Ecclectikos and MOCA. She was selected and became a resident artist at Arlington Arts Center in the late 90’s. She exhibited at many non-profit arts organizations in DC, Virginia, and Maryland such as; Washington Project for the Arts, Rockville Arts Place, MAP at Artscape, School 33 in Baltimore, Arlington Art Center, DCAC, McLean Arts Center, Glen Echo’s Yellow Barn, D.C. Arts Center, University of Maryland and MICA.

When Posey was raising a family, she became an art teacher. She taught at Whittier Elementary School in DC for 7 years before moving to Montgomery County. She was hired at Richard Montgomery High School as an IB/AP Studio Art teacher and has been there for the last 18 years. Posey’s career as an High School educator afforded her the opportunity to teach art in Chong Ming, China, in the summer of 2018. She retired from teaching to pursue being a full-time visual artist in 2024. She teaches Encaustic in Mixed Media part-time at VisArts in Rockville, MD, presently.

Posey’s early paintings started out as narrative figurative work and over the years, her work has evolved from a highly narrative figurative style into an essentially abstract style of painting with some symbolic representation. She continues to experiment with many mediums and processes, both as an artist and a teacher. She does this because ultimately, she is still a student who has a desire to learn.

Website/Portfolio: Kelly Posey Art
Instagram: @kellyposeyart