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Rev. Kimberly Hyatt, MDiv ’96, is President and CEO of Cathedral Arts Project (CAP), a nationally recognized nonprofit that provides arts education programs to children and young adults in Northeast Florida. Under her 22 years of leadership, CAP has grown from serving a few hundred students annually to reaching more than 36,000 with a budget of $4.5 million per year. Yet Hyatt’s path to ministry and nonprofit work was not a straight line.
Raised in modest circumstances on a farm in South Carolina, she first felt called to ministry a few years after starting what she thought was her dream job as a business lobbyist for the Food Marketing Institute in Washington, DC. It was there that she also became a member of the National Presbyterian Church (NPC) and began doing a lot of volunteer work in the late 1980s.
“I had a very religious background as a child, but it didn’t resonate, yet once I experienced the Reformed theology and worship style, it felt right,” she says. “It was also the first time I saw a woman pastor and could envision a different career possibility for myself. Still, it was a struggle for a couple of years, as I thought I was on the verge of achieving something else – but the call was persistent.”
Rev. Hyatt learned about Princeton Theological Seminary through the late Dr. Bryant Kirkland, then a longtime visiting Princeton Seminary professor and interim pastor at NPC. “As soon as I got on campus during a Seminary weekend for prospective students, I knew this was it,” she says. “The beauty of the campus, the charm of the town, and the dedication to scholarship captivated me because education had already changed the whole trajectory of my life, and I wanted to go where I knew scholarship was valued.”
She credits Princeton Seminary with broadening her thinking, saying “the most valuable part of Seminary was realizing how much I didn’t know. I entered Princeton Seminary with a lot of ego and self-righteousness, which I didn’t realize at the time because I was doing well career-wise, and the diversity of perspectives and academic rigor pushed me to grow in ways I had not anticipated. After I left Princeton Seminary, I began to appreciate all the ways I had changed, whether from courses or engaging with people with different views. It was transformational for me.”
Princeton Seminary instilled a sense of curiosity in different perspectives, and approaching the world with that mindset is essential for leadership
After graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary, Rev. Hyatt served two different pastorates in Jacksonville, Florida, and both churches were associated with preschools. She was drawn to the Cathedral Arts Project (CAP) as a “way to continue my ministry with a focus on older children,” she says. “Arts education can be lifegiving for kids, so it was easy to get excited about this mission.”
Whether through a new style of worship, dance performances, performing arts, and things she hadn’t dreamed of, a new world opened for Rev. Hyatt as her appreciation for the arts grew. She had already honed her leadership and administration skills as a pastor, “so it seemed like everything was flowing beautifully,” she says. She was hired in 2002 as CAP’s first executive director when it was a small organization with a small budget. “I love helping kids discover their creative spirit and the arts, instead of finding it in their twenties like I did,” she explains. “We see kids become much more engaged with their academics, with higher test scores and attendance records, and fewer problematic behaviors, and we have data that shows this. It’s rewarding to see their joy and hope as they experience the arts.”
According to independent research data, on average, CAP students attend three more days of school during the school year and score approximately seven points higher on standardized math and reading tests compared to their non-CAP peers. And it isn’t solely the children who benefit.
“At one of our end-of-year showcases, as parents were standing in the lobby to get into the theater, I overheard a man saying that his daughter was so shy, she would never get on stage,” Rev. Hyatt recalls. “After one group of students performed, this same man stood up with tears in his eyes. He was flabbergasted to see his daughter perform, and I thought that probably changed his expectations of what his child could achieve, in the arts and in general. The work we do can elevate a family’s aspirations for their children.”
CAP offers several types of programs: In the afterschool program, children learn an art form such as violin, acting, or ballet, which incentivizes them to attend school. “Art makes learning fun,” Hyatt explains. “It engages all of the senses and provides so many integration points, because not all kids learn in the same way.” CAP also offers programs for children and young adults with disabilities. “CAP’s therapeutic programs, including art counseling, sensory art, and music therapy, enhance learning and development and affirm our belief that every child has a creative spirit. These services unlock potential and foster an inclusive environment where all children can thrive and express themselves.”
CAP is currently building a citywide field trip initiative, which the National Endowment for the Arts is studying for national growth. The goal is to expand its programs to five counties in Northeast Florida this school year.
“We’ve established a national profile for our advocacy work, and we want to build on that,” Rev. Hyatt says. “As the educational landscape evolves beyond traditional public schools, we’re working to make sure that no matter where a child goes to school, they have access to an arts-rich education – the kind of education that endows children with imagination, self-confidence, and a will to succeed.”
Rev. Hyatt says there are many ways in which her time at Princeton Seminary helped prepare her for her role at CAP. “Princeton Seminary instilled a sense of curiosity in different perspectives, and approaching the world with that mindset is essential for leadership,” she notes. Rev. Hyatt adds that most of her electives were in the Theology Department, “and that helped me learn to think strategically and embrace a big-picture perspective. Practical theology taught me valuable skills that I continue to use in stewarding donors and volunteers, crafting effective, persuasive communications, and creating a supportive environment for my staff.”
