Street artist and craftivist Jessie Hemmons (ishknits) will present the Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist Lecture at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 24 via Zoom. Her lecture is presented by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History and Design.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Access the lecture here.
Hemmons completed her master’s degree in clinical and counseling psychology in 2011 from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. She worked as a psychotherapist for a short time and has spent most of her professional career as a behavioral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hemmons started yarnbombing in 2011, covering urban objects with knitting in downtown Philadelphia. She began making these knitted installations to show the feasibility of using more diverse media in street art, thrust passersby out of their everyday urban experience and improve accessibility to art in the community.
Soon taking on the moniker ishknits, she gradually expanded her installations and began taking on a more overtly political tone. She used yarnbombing as a way to shine a light on issues related to feminism, misogyny and interpersonal violence.
Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Encyclopedia Britannica. She has produced commercial pieces for companies such as Target, Lyft and Free People. Her work has been displayed in galleries and museums including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Philadelphia International Airport.
The remaining spring schedule for the Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture Series includes:
- March 3: Tarrah Kajnak, photography, 5:30 p.m. Born in Lima, Peru, Kajnak is currently associate professor of art and director of the Monroe Center for Social Inquiry on Racial Justice at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.
- March 11: Art history panel featuring Sampada Aranke, assistant professor of art history, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Alexis Salas, assistant professor of art history, New Mexico State University; Julia Neal, lecturer in African American Art History, Georgia State University; and Kieran Jack Wilson, photographer and activist in Lincoln, 5:30 p.m. The panel is titled “Serious Play: Radical Publications and Their Histories.” As paper zines, signage and print material continue to give form to the current set of global crises, this panel examines the new histories that emerge when we examine distributable print media in terms of crisis and social movements.
- March 24: Deb Schwartzkopf, ceramics, 5:30 p.m. Schwartzkopf is a Seattle-based studio potter making fine porcelain tableware through Rat City Studios. Ceramics Monthly named her Ceramic Artist of the Year in 2019.
- March 31: Joel Damon, foundations, 5:30 p.m. Damon is co-founder and co-curator of Project Project, an independent, DIY contemporary arts space in South Omaha, Nebraska.
- April 7: Noel Anderson, printmaking, 5:30 p.m. Anderson is area head of printmaking in New York University’s Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions. Anderson utilizes print-media and arts-based research to explore philosophical inquiry methodologies.
- April 14: Kristian Bjornard, foundations, 5:30 p.m. Bjornard is a designer, educator and sustainabilitist. He is the director of The Office of Kristian Bjornard, a graphic design practice focusing on books, identities, websites and digital tools.
The School of Art, Art History and Design’s Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series brings notable artists, scholars and designers to Nebraska each semester to enhance the education of students.
Underwritten by the Hixson-Lied Endowment, with additional support from other sources, the series enriches the culture of the state by providing a way for Nebraskans to interact with luminaries in the fields of art, art history and design.
For more information on the series, contact the School of Art, Art History and Design at 402-472-5522.
