Michele Jaquis
Professor, Director of Interdisciplinary Studies, Interim Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs | Creative Action, Interdisciplinary Studies
Education
- MFA Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design. College Teaching Certificate, Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, Brown University. Video courses, Dept. of Modern Culture and Media, Brown University.
- BFA Sculpture and Experimental studio + Psychology Minor, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford.
- Sculpture & drawing courses, Burren College of Art, Ireland.
- Training in Applied Behavior Analysis, Center for Autism and Related Disorders.
Bio/Affiliation
Interdisciplinary artist, educator, and academic administrator who has been teaching in various departments at Otis since Fall 2000. Trained in the expanded field of sculpture, Jaquis combines strategies of conceptual art, process art, documentary, and social practice to examine the complexities within personal, social and political relationships, identity, language, and communication across a wide range of media. Her work has been presented at conferences, film and video festivals, galleries, museums, and alternative spaces primarily throughout Southern California, but also across the U.S. and in Australia, Canada, Ireland, England, New Zealand, and South Korea. With over twenty years of teaching at the college level, she has also taught art to adjudicated and at-risk youth and adults with developmental disabilities and was a therapist of Applied Behavior Analysis for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Residencies
Field Workshop: Action Projects at the ICA LA, Reciprocity LA Artist Retreat / Asylum Arts + Institute for Jewish Creativity, Skirball Cultural Center, Institute for Cultural Inquiry, Vermont Studio Center.
Awards and Honors
- Otis Faculty Development Grants: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2016, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Spring 2011
- Present Work Finalist, Prospect Art, Los Angeles, CA 2021
- Best Short Documentary & Best Editing Nominations, 2019 ReelHeART International Film and Screenplay Festival in Toronto, Canada
- Otis Sabbatical Spring 2018
- Otis Curricular Innovation Grant for Blended Learning, 2012
- CA Community Foundation's Next Gen Arts Professional Development Grant, 2011
- US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Voice Award Nomination, 2009
- Best Documentary 2008 Director’s Chair Film Festival, Staten Island, NY
Professional Accomplishments and Exhibitions
Recent Exhibitions, Screenings, and Events:
- NOMAD III, Torrance Art Museum at Del Amo Crossing, Torrance, CA, Aug. 2024
- Viral Integration, UC Irvine College of Health Sciences, Feb. - Dec. 2024
- NOMAD II, Torrance Art Museum at Del Amo Crossing, Torrance, CA, Oct. 2023
- Michele Jaquis: Shelf Life, Proxy Gallery, Los Angeles, CA June 2023
- all my friends are in This show, curated by Yasamin Safarzadeh, Kimball Jenkins, Conord, NH, April - June, 2023
- Sociality, curated by Keith Walsh, LA TATE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, March - April 2023
- Telling Stories, curated by Michael Miller, El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance, CA, Feb. - March, 2023
- UnCivil War (an election special), curated by Max Presneill, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA, Oct. - Nov. 2022
- Migrant Madonna, curated by Joyce Dallal and Naima White, SoLA Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, April 2022
- Michele Jaquis: We Are Here, Together, Cerritos College Art Gallery: Window Dressing Series, Norwalk, CA, Sept. 2021
- DIG: A Hole To Put Your Grief In, organized by Cara Levine, Shalom Institute, Malibu, CA, Aug. 2021
- Michele Jaquis: We Are Here, Together, Proxy Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, June 2021
- Paul’s Brain: Michele Jaquis / Paul Pattison, Kamikaze 2019 PØST at MiM Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, July 2019
- THEN, WHAT IF?, curated by Gene Gort and Ken Steen for NewMediaNewMusicNewEngland, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT, 2019
- Emotional Labor, curated by Rotem Rozental, Platt and Borstein Galleries, American Jewish University, Bel Air, CA, 2019
- ReelHeART International Film and Screenplay Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019
Recent Conference Presentations:
- Panelist, “Prop 28 & Developing the Teacher Pipeline: Thinking Innovatively - Perspectives from Higher Ed,” (with Eric Engdahl, CSU East Bay, and Merryl Goldberg, CSU San Marcos), Create CA webinar, Jan. 2024
- Panelist, “Social Activism and Us: What works and why it matters” moderated by Sue-Na Gay, Torrance Art Museum (with Mary Anna Pomonis, CSU Fullerton, Marantz Moon, DMST Atelier, Yoshimi Hayashi, Landmarks of Art), Tryst Art Fair, Torrance, CA, Nov. 2023
- Panelist, ”Contemporary Art from Supported Studios” (moderated by Colin Rhodes, with Anne Bowler, Marlena Doktorczyk-Donohue, Adriane Mota, Gabrielle Mordy, Amanda Sutton), College Art Association Conference, New York, NY, Feb. 2023
- Presenter, ”We Are Here, Together,” Conney Conference on Jewish Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, March 2022
- Presenter, ”Uniquely Abled: Inclusive Collaborations” (with Marlena Doktorczyk-Donohue and Adriane Mota), AICAD Symposium on Diversity Inclusion and Equity, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 2019
- Panelist, “Liberal Democracy and Social Practice,” (Women’s Caucus for Art panel moderated by Susan King, with Karen E. Kostig, Elin O’Hara Slavic, Hazal Uzunkaya), College Art Association Conference, New York, NY, Feb. 2019
- Panelist, “Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA Case Studies in Teaching from Exhibitions” (moderated by Anuradha Vikram, with Karen Moss, Alessandra Moctezuma, Sara Solaimani), College Art Association Conference, Los Angeles, CA, Feb. 2018
- Session Chair/Moderator "Pedagogy of Social and Environmental Justice" (with Anne Berry, Audra Buck Coleman, Jane Marsching, Carol Padberg, and Hugh Pocock), College Art Association Conference, New York, NY, Feb. 2017
Publications
- Michele Jaquis, We Are All Americans, podcast available on Apple iTunes and Spotify, 2018 - ongoing
- ed. MacDevitt, James, Window Dressing III: Spring 2020 | Fall 2021 (exhibition catalog), Cerritos College Art Gallery, Norwalk, CA, 2022, pg. 204-231
- Vikram, Anuradha, “How Can I Teach Art in a Pandemic?”, KCET Southland Sessions, Feb. 9, 2021
- Watch Michele discuss her socially engaged art and inclusive teaching practices with Joe Brooks, Executive Director of Community Works Institute, for the CWI Spotlight Series: Conversations with Educator Change Makers, Feb. 24, 2021
- Hindsight is 2020: Dispatches from the Edge of an Apocalypse, an exhibition in a box curated by James MacDevitt, Cerritos College Art Gallery, Norwalk, CA, Fall 2020