Kendal Brown is a Baltimore-based multidisciplinary artist, minister, musician, and doctoral candidate whose work explores the intersections of Black, queer, and religious identity. Through family research, material exploration, storytelling, and contemplative practice, his work invites deep reflection on the role of creativity and authenticity in fostering individual and communal healing.

Working across media—including collage, archival photography, ephemera, botanicals, and fragrance—Brown creates layered, contemplative works grounded in memory, lineage, and place. Drawing from his early years in southern Virginia, he engages both personal and collective histories, incorporating vintage African American photographs that capture historical figures as well as the everyday beauty of Black life. Family photographs also serve as a vital component of his practice, situating intimate memory within broader cultural narratives.

Brown’s artistic practice was catalyzed through candle-making, which became a portal into a deeper engagement with ancestral presence and ritual. His candle brand, 228 Grant Street Candle Co., has been featured on national platforms including The Today Show and ABC World News, as well as in numerous publications.

In parallel with his artistic work, Brown has cultivated a robust vocational life in ministry, music, and theological education. He has served as Associate Conference Minister with the United Church of Christ and has worked with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, where he developed programming to support seminarians from underrepresented communities. His ministry has included serving as Associate Pastor of Christian Education at City of Refuge United Church of Christ in San Francisco under the mentorship of Bishop Yvette Flunder, and as the founding pastor of City of Refuge Washington, DC.

Brown holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Averett University, a Master of Divinity with honors from Virginia Union University School of Theology, and has pursued advanced studies in pastoral counseling at Loyola University. He is a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and expects to complete the program Spring 2026. Across his artistic and ministerial practices, he remains deeply committed to creativity and both individual and collective liberation.

He is grounded and sustained by the life-giving love of his husband, Dr. Bryant Woodford.