Jeannine Kitzhaber

Associate Lecturer

Art
Office: B100 Kleinpell Fine Arts
Phone: 715-425-3236

Email: jeannine.kitzhaber@uwrf.edu

Website: www.jspoonerkitz.com

Jeannine Spooner Kitzhaber is a national and regional artist and college-level educator who works in mixed media, painting, drawing, digital, sculpture and printmaking. She has a BFA and MFA in Studio Art, with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing from the University of MN, where she also studied Art History and English. A first-generation college graduate, Kitzhaber considers herself a life-long learner. In 2007, she took a workshop with renowned digital artist, Maggie Taylor in Berkeley, CA. In 2008, she studied digital drawing in Seattle, and back in MN studied Asian Art History with UMN professor Dr. Robert Poor. Under Dr. Poor and UMN Professor Emeritus Karl Bethke's guidance, she completed research on the materials and methods of Nishiki-e and Ukiyo-e prints. She also furthered her understanding of screen printing by assisting Karl Bethke in his studio from June 2008 to April 2009. Currently, Kitzhaber teaches Introduction to Art and Design Foundations at UWRF. She also teaches classes through the Learning Communities and Honors Programs on campus, and advises transfer and new students in Art. In addition to teaching and exhibiting Art, she has worked as a gallery manager, college advisor and as an art research technician. Kitzhaber and her husband Nick live in the Twin Cities and have three daughters. Two of her daughters are alumni of UWRF in Social Work and Art. Kitzhaber has a studio in NE Minneapolis at the Northrup King Building. 

Education

• Master of Fine Arts, Emphasis in Painting and Drawing, (with additional Graduate Level Art History Credits), University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, 2000
• Additional Study through Workshops in Screen printing, Mono-printing, Digital and Lithography, 2006-2010
• Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Drawing, Minor in English, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, 1995

Artist Statement

I have a deep connection with place, history and tradition. That sense and feeling of touching the land and understanding its significance in life, is something I will never forget. The daughter of a realtor and a homemaker, I grew up with a profound understanding of place, land and home. Memory, irony and a sense of bittersweet nostalgia are reoccurring themes in my Art. I find inspiration in old photographs, doilies, maps, patterns, aprons, and other seemingly ordinary objects. Some of these objects I can envision someone in another life touching and caring about, and I want to uncover their story. I want to take the ordinary, whether it is a common object or feeling, and make it extraordinary. My process involves both conceptual and intuitive methods, moving from the planning and understanding of the mind to a feeling that I can trust what decisions I make based on instinct.  

Solo/Group Exhibitions

• Tangible Digital Matter, University of MN select group exhibition. Minneapolis, MN
• Feast for the Senses, an invitational group exhibit at Mezzolago Gallery. Minneapolis, MN
• Women Exhibit Art, a four-person select show at Blaine City Hall, Blaine, MN
• Metaphor and Myth, a two-person exhibit with Margo Selski at Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN
• Remembering Mother, a solo exhibit at the St. Peter Center for the Arts, St. Peter, MN
• Repetition and Ritual, a two-person exhibit with Alexis Kuhr. Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, Fridley., MN
• Process, a solo exhibit at Ridgewater College, Hutchinson, MN
• Kitschy-Kitschy-Koo, a three-person exhibit sponsored by the Art Department Gallery, University of MN. Minneapolis, MN
• Yin and Yang, a two-person show with David Feinberg. Paul Whitney Larson Gallery, St. Paul, MN

Selected Exhibitions

• Midwest Biennial, a 6-State exhibition, Wausau, WI
• Annual National Juried Competition, Academy of Fine Arts, Lynchburg, VA
• Realism, a juried exhibition. Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
  
• Photographic Processes, a juried exhibition. Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
• The Figure Show, a juried exhibition at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Minnetonka, MN
• Women Making Their Own Mark, a juried show sponsored by the University of MN Women's Association. Coffman Gallery, University of MN. Minneapolis, MN
• Women Opening Our Own Door, a juried exhibition sponsored by the University of MN Women's Association. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

Awards/Grants/Commissions

• E-Curriculum $6000.00 Awards in Excellence Grant to develop D2L Online Art History 1and 2. Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Coon Rapids, MN
• Juror’s Award, “Growing up and Looking Back” Gallery RFD in Swainsboro, GA
• Honorable Mention at “Figure Show” through Minnetonka Center for the ArtsAwards/Grants/Commissions E-Curriculum $6000.00 Awards in Excellence Grant to develop D2L Online Art History 1and 2. Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Coon Rapids, MN Juror's Award, "Growing up and Looking Back" Gallery RFD in Swainsboro, GA Honorable Mention at "Figure Show" through Minnetonka Center for the Arts

Collections

• Numerous private collections in MN, WI, GA, IA, NE, CA, AZ, IL, WA, and VA

Publications

• Women Exhibit Art", ABC Newspapers, Blaine, MN., 6/22/06
• Metaphor and Myth, Bloomington Sun, Bloomington, MN. 5/09/06
• Repetition and Ritual Steps Lively at Banfill-Locke, ABC Papers: Coon Rapids Herald, Coon Rapids, MN. 3/03/03
• Body Art, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN. 3/10/2000