Jen Delos Reyes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jen Delos Reyes
Jen Delos Reyes in 2018
Nationality	Canadian
Known for	collaborative artist, writer, educator

Jen Delos Reyes is a talented artist, writer, and teacher from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Growing up, she learned important lessons from her Filipina mother. These lessons included being resourceful, building strong communities, and finding joy in everyday life. She also learned to appreciate fashion and art.

Jen Delos Reyes is very interested in how art can help people and communities. She studies the history of art that involves working with others. She also looks at how artists can work together, like bands do, and what role artists play in society. She is the person who started and led Open Engagement. This was a big international meeting about art that helps communities. Today, she works as an associate director at the School of Art and Art History at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Jen Delos Reyes: Art and Community Work

Jen Delos Reyes believes in supporting other artists and creating places for them to share their work. She does this by setting up special projects and groups. These projects help other artists show their talents and ideas.

Open Engagement: A Special Art Conference

One of her most important projects was Open Engagement. This was a yearly meeting for artists, led by artists themselves. It ran from 2007 to 2017. The main goal of Open Engagement was to talk about and support "socially engaged art." This is art that involves people and communities to make a difference. It was a place where artists could share ideas and help each other.

Exploring Group Work in Art

Jen Delos Reyes also explores how groups work together, especially in music. She looks at how bands create music and how their members interact. She uses these ideas to understand how artists can work together on projects.

Writing About Art and Life

She is currently writing a book called I’m Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My Song: How Artists Make and Live Lives of Meaning. This book explores how artists find purpose in their art and in their daily lives. It looks at what inspires artists to create and how their art connects to their everyday experiences.

Teaching Art and Social Practice

From 2008 to 2013, Jen Delos Reyes helped lead the Art and Social Practice MFA program at Portland State University. An MFA is a Master of Fine Arts degree. She was also the main leader for this area from 2010 to 2013.

New Ways to Learn Art

While at Portland State University, she created a new way for students to earn their MFA degree. This was a "low-residency" program. It meant students did not have to live in Portland all the time. They could stay in their own communities and still study art. This allowed them to create meaningful art projects right where they lived.

Courses on Socially Engaged Art

Jen Delos Reyes also designed courses for the university. These courses taught students about the history of socially engaged art. They covered art from 1920 up to today. She also created classes on how to teach socially engaged art to younger students.

Publishing Art Books

Jen Delos Reyes has also worked on publishing books about art. She edited a book series called Art and Social Practice Reference Points. This series was created with students from the MFA program.

Art and Social Practice Reference Points Series

The book series covers three main areas of socially engaged art. These areas are important people, different themes, and workbooks with creative ideas. Students and teachers worked together to choose artists and groups who were important in socially engaged art. They also picked themes that were popular in modern social art. The workbooks offered methods for artists to use in their own projects.

Open Engagement Anthology

Jen Delos Reyes also edited a collection of writings from the Open Engagement conferences. This book, called Open Engagement: 2007–2013, shares ideas and discussions from the first years of the conference.

Art Exhibitions

Jen Delos Reyes has shown her art in many exhibitions. Here are some of the places where her work has been displayed:

• Shine a Light, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR. 2013
• Band Class, Ditch Projects, Eugene, OR. 2011
• The Open Daybook, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. 2011
• Utopia, OH. CS18, Cincinnati, OH. 2011
• The Incidental Person. Apexart. NY, NY. 2010
• Parties Prenantes. Bétonsalon, Paris, France. 2009
• Come Together, The Kitchen, New York, NY. 2006