The Story : An Artist's Bio

​About Carrie 

​

Visual Artist. Community Researcher. Advocate. Survivor.

“At times, my painting style is as jagged and unpredictable as the path I’ve travelled — but always, it is rooted in truth.”

Carrie Campbell is a multidisciplinary visual artist, community researcher, and certified social service worker whose creative and professional work is deeply shaped by her lived experience. Based in Florida and Canada, she draws on her identity as a survivor of intimate partner violence, a mother of four, and a fierce advocate for equity to create socially engaged art that speaks to themes of resilience, healing, and collective transformation.

Originally raised in Queens, New York, Carrie’s early years were influenced by the vibrancy of urban art and diasporic cultures. At 15, she was selected to study in a regional studio art program, where she began to develop her own expressive language. Her life has since taken her across geographies — from New York to Florida to Ontario — with each chapter leaving its imprint on both her art and activism.

Carrie’s creative practice spans painting, mixed media, community murals, and art-based workshops. Her visual work often explores the emotional weight of trauma, single parenthood, and the complexities of survival — while also celebrating tenderness, culture, joy, and the power of collective care. Her pieces have been featured in gallery exhibitions, public events, and community installations, including permanent works housed at women's centres like Family Life Resource Centre and Hope 24/7 in Peel Region.

But Carrie’s work doesn’t stop at the canvas.

She is the founder of Contemporary Heart, a Florida-based art and wellness initiative providing workshops and community art events for youth, women, and marginalized families. She has designed and led programming such as Empowered Through Art, Mindful Expressions, and Inspire — using visual storytelling as a tool for healing, community connection, and advocacy.

In parallel, Carrie is also an emerging researcher and founder of the Purple Pearl Research Collective, which builds partnerships between community leaders and academic institutions to address systemic issues like gender-based violence, poverty, and access to education. Her most recent research project, Raised Voices, centers the experiences of post-secondary students raised in single-parent homes, and uses participatory methods like Photovoice to influence social policy. She has presented at international conferences and received ethics clearance for community-based studies through Canadian institutions.

Carrie has worked across nonprofit sectors as a program director, external evaluator, youth facilitator, and prevention/outreach worker. Her roles have included crisis intervention, public speaking at vigils and rallies, and creating tailored supports for underserved populations. She is certified in suicide prevention (SAFE TALK), Narcan administration, and is currently completing her Community Health Worker certification through the Florida Certification Board.

As a practicing artist, intersectional feminist, and advocate, Carrie continues to use art as a conduit for both personal reflection and social change. Her life’s work — whether painted or written, spoken or organized — is a tribute to healing and the sacred act of survival.

Above all else, she is grounded in her role as a mother and remains unapologetically committed to creating beauty from pain, and justice from love.