The Memorial Library is saddened to announce the untimely death of Kathy Carlisle, who passed away on December 8. The Library mourns her passing and extends sympathies to Kathy’s family and friends at this terrible loss.

Kathy, a Visual Arts instructor at St. Francis High School in Sacramento, was a participant in the 2012 Summer Seminar. Her warm, vibrant, and insightful approach to Holocaust and social justice education was immediately evident, and she made an important contribution to the program. With her talent for working in the visual realm, she encouraged other teachers to consider the ways in which art and photographs could be effectively incorporated into their curriculum. Kathy had planned to be a part of the Satellite Seminars in California and was an active member of listserv discussions among members of our teacher network.

Recently, she shared photos of her students’ “altered books” projects, based on Simon Wiesenthal’s volume The Sunflower. Photos from this project appear below.

Her work with her photography students, The Holocaust: Illuminated Memory, was invited to be shown at the The Quarter Gallery at the Regis Center for the Arts at the University of Minnesota in the spring of 2013. The blog for this project, including students’ images and their artists’ statements, can be found here here.

Click here for an article detailing Kathy’s work with the Holocaust and images, including the role growing up in Detroit played in her sense of commitment to social activism.

Kathy’s obituary appeared in The Sacramento Bee on December 14. A scholarship in her honor has been established at St. Francis High School.