David Kidd – Artist, Muralist, Restorer (b. 1961)

Mr. Kidd holds a masters degree from Johns Hopkins and studied fine art and architectural history both here and abroad. He worked and studied at the Martelli Gelleria in Florence, Italy, the principle conservators for the Uffizi Gallery and the Church of Santa Croce. He also trained with Florence Art of the Fattoria de Maiano, where he taught as a guest instructor. For two years he ran a studio in Norway where he also worked with the University of Tromsø. He returned to the US permanently to expand Kidd Studios in the region, and continues to maintain professional relationships throughout Europe and the United States. He has taught faux finish and trompe l’oei at the London School for Decorative Painting, and has given master classes in Paris, Rome, and Oslo.

Mr. Kidd has always had a passion for art and historic architecture and has specialized in their creation, restoration, and preservation. After graduating from St. Johns College in Annapolis, he started buying, researching, and restoring 19th Century homes in the Baltimore region. While working as a medical researcher at John Hopkins, he began his scholarly pursuit of art and architectural history at Hopkins and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, which eventually led to a full time career in art, restoration, and decorative and mural painting. That career now spans the Atlantic.

In 2000, Mr. Kidd founded Kidd Studios LLC, a venture devoted to the creation of traditional and decorative art as well as its fine restoration and ultimate preservation. He is a member of the Baltimore Architects Foundation and a fellow at the Institute of Classical Architecture in New York, NY.

Formal Education:

• Academic training – Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and History from St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD. (1985)

• Masters degree in Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (1996)

• Certificate in the History of Western Art, the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.

• Certificate in Classical Architecture, the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America.

• He attended the Schuler School of Fine Art, Baltimore, MD where he studied drawing, painting, and sculpture using modern methods and techniques as well as those of the Great Masters, and the methods of Jaque Marogé, former Conservator of the Louvre, Paris.

Apprenticeships and other experience:

• Gilding and gilding restoration – White Horse Studio, MD

• Decorative Painting – Interior Custom Design, Philadelphia, PA

• Faux Finishes and trompe l’oeil – Pierre Finkelstein Institute of Decorative Painting, New York, NY

• Canvas and mural conservation, decorative painting - Martelli Gelleria, Florence, Italy

Mr. Kidd’s was recently featured in Laura Vozzella’s column in the Baltimore Sun. He can provide images of his decorative artwork and restorations if requested. His art has been shown at the Schuler gallery in Baltimore, the Mitchell Gallery in Annapolis, the MOCA and Warehouse in Georgetown and Washington, DC, and the Kunstforening (contemporary art museum) in Tromsø, Norway.