Kim Domanski put her all into everything she did, small and big.

When her nephews came to visit her in Baltimore for Halloween a few years back, she set up tables with spooky decorations and served eyeball-shaped candy so memorable they still talk about it. When she helped organize Light City, the massive festival that decorated the Inner Harbor with colorful, illuminated sculptures, she put on an event so well-attended that the Cheesecake Factory there ran out of cheesecake for the first time ever.

Domanski was filled with passion — for life, for family and especially for the arts. Though she didn’t grow up in Baltimore, she made a home here and gave back to the city the best way she knew. Her work at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, and later The Peale museum, brought massive attention and support to the city’s arts community, and her efforts to establish the prestigious Sondheim Art Prize have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to local artists over two decades.

“You never had to worry about if she said she was going to take something on,” said Krista Green, who worked with Domanski at BOPA and The Peale. “It was always great and fun and unexpected — like, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have done it that way, but look how awesome it is.‘”

She wanted to spend her life making and sharing art, and she did. Her loved ones just wish she had had more time. Domanski, who was also a supportive partner, sister and friend, died unexpectedly March 7 of a heart attack. She was 52.

Born Sept. 9, 1972, Domanski was the youngest of three children. Her sister, Michele, was nine years her senior, and her brother, Vince, about 7 1/2 years older. Everyone doted on the baby of the family who had an early inclination for art. She was always drawing or bringing home rocks to paint, said her sister, now Michele Long.

They grew up in Shamokin, a small town in central Pennsylvania. Domanski was as much of a homebody as she was someone who loved being around friends and acting in school plays, her sister said. Initially planning to study engineering, she enrolled at Bucknell University, a school 30 minutes away and known for its engineering program.

But she soon decided to change course and instead study studio arts. By the time she graduated, she was itching to experience life in a city. She decided to pursue a graduate degree at the Maryland Institute College of Art and made Baltimore her new home.

It was love at first sight.

While waiting to attend orientation at MICA, Domanski was sitting in a cafe and struck up a conversation with Ed Istwan, a fellow student. “What’s your story?” he asked.

The two became “instant best friends,” Long said. “They just fit.” Over time, their relationship developed into something more, and they spent more than 30 years as partners. Istwan was struck by their similarities and supportive nature, and he admired Domanski’s artistic skill. She often completed abstract paintings with all kinds of materials and textures, and “there was a mystery about them,” he said.

“All great artists are aware of when to stop, when something is done, and she had a very good eye and ear for when that happened,” Istwan said.

But Domanski’s true calling was in uplifting other artists and forging connections. She graduated from MICA in 1996 and spent the next several years working in banking, waiting for an opportunity to break into the art world. It came in 2005 at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts.

Domanski spent 15 years there. She helped organize and execute Artscape, the largest free outdoor arts festival in the country that BOPA has put on since 1982. That was one of her favorite annual events, her sister said.

Domanski was able to do a lot with few resources, Istwan said, and she was especially good at finding creative ways to make an event great without spending too much.

Ahead of Artscape’s 25th anniversary, Domanski and her colleague, Gary Kachadourian, decided to create a new, coveted award that gives $25,000 to Baltimore-area artists. They launched the Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize and endowment, an annual award now worth $30,000.

“If you were an artist that’s showing work in a gallery, or an artist that’s showing work outside, or an artist that’s submitting their work for a prize, she was touching that,” said Green, her former coworker.

Domanski approached her work without judgment and without an ego, because she knew that “if you want to get something done, you need to cooperate and be clear and [offer] support,” her partner said. But she was equally as organized and meticulous as she was kind and open — a crucial combination in her industry.

“She made sure that her sofa was the comfiest,” Istwan said.

Domanski was also known for her participation in Baltimore’s Kinetic Sculpture Race, hosted each year by the American Visionary Art Museum. The race features human-powered works of art that move across both land and water. Domanski and Istwan judged the competition every year dressed straight out of the 18th century, white powdered wigs and all.

Domanski briefly moved to Philadelphia during the COVID pandemic, but she came home to Baltimore in 2022 and worked at The Peale as chief operations officer. She opened the museum’s first gift shop.

“She had this luminous quality, and she certainly was a light to the cultural scene in so many different ways,” said Rebecca Hoffberger, the former director of the American Visionary Art museum.

Outside of art, Domanski enjoyed roaming thrift stores and antique shops, playing Parcheesi and bingo and spending time by the water. She was the “cool aunt” who sent her nephews birthday gifts so good they waited by the door each year for the mailman to drop them off. She and her sister took annual trips to Ocean City, where they stayed in fancy hotels and spent their days shopping, visiting a nearby lavender farm and lying on the beach.

“She just loved it there,” Long said. “She loved looking for shells, like a little kid.”

The Banner publishes news stories about people who have recently died in Maryland. If your loved one has passed and you would like to inquire about an obituary, please contact obituary@thebaltimorebanner.com. If you are interested in placing a paid death notice, please contact groupsales@thebaltimorebanner.com or visit this website.