Kara Shepherd (February 18, 1911 - October 1984) was an African-American surrealist painter. A native of Culpeper, Virginia, where she was born on the family farm, Shepherd early expressed an interest in art, receiving encouragement from her parents. She studied at the in 1926; the Art Students League of New York in 1950; Fordham University in 1960; the École des Beaux-Arts, Fontainelbleau from 1962 to 1964; and Arizona State University from 1979 to 1980. Her work is represented in public and private collections.