From Federal to Hopetown

“From Federal to Hopetown” chronicles Kaima’s journey from a trailer park to a rental home, exploring how migration and economics shape identity. Her exhibition reimagines childhood spaces in eastside Houston, blending past and present to preserve memories and belonging within the city’s evolving landscape.

Kaima Marie is the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant and a white mother, which allowed her to exist simultaneously within two vastly different cultures. Kaima uses collage to discover the social implications of identity, with specific attention to the narratives surrounding urbanism and capitalism as they incubate in individual, familial and social tropes . She has showcased nationally in group exhibitions, including the Glendale Library in California, San Antonio Art League and Museum, the Houston Museum of African American Culture, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, winning “Best in Show” two years in a row at the longest running African American juried exhibition in the nation. She received the Carol Crow Fellowship in 2023, awarded by the Houston Center for Photography where she debuted her first solo exhibition solely constructed from collage. Kaima is also a recipient of the Houston Endowment’s 2024 Jones Artist Award and continues to garner attention from collectors and institutions. She is currently working on her MFA in painting at the University of Houston. She is also an Artist in Residence at the Anderson Center for the Arts.