It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Kari Marboe was involved in a fatal motor vehicle incident. This sudden loss of an important member of our California College of Art family is a shock to all of us. It is both devastating and heartbreaking. On behalf of the college we extend our condolences to her parents, family members, and many friends and colleagues. 

Kari was a beloved teacher who inspired her students through her energetic enthusiasm and individualized care. She taught 3D in the Core Studio program and helped students experience working in wood, ceramics, plaster, and other media in order to gain understanding of form. Teaching first year students, Kari was gifted in inspiring students to find their passions, open their practices, and to connect with their artistic community. 

Kari’s contribution to her students’ creative futures was wide-reaching as she brought her interdisciplinary practice — informed by research in art history, museum archives and ephemera, object making and ceramics— to the classroom, demonstrating creative inquiry and work that embodied our CCA values. Kari’s bright smile and infectious enthusiasm would always amplify when she talked proudly about the accomplishments of her first year students. 

As both an alumna of CCA (Ceramics BFA, 2008) and eight years of teaching at CCA as an Assistant Professor in First Year and in the Ceramics programs, she touched many hearts and minds at CCA, and brought an unbelievable amount of laughter to all of us. She will be missed.

In September 2020, Ashwini Bhat interviewed Kari about her collaborative project with the Mills College Art Museum. You can read Duplicating Daniel. Nancy Selvin will be working with Kari's family to establish an annual lectureship in her name.