UNF sculpture professor Jenny Hager exhibits at Cummer Museum
Jenny Hager, University of North Florida sculpture professor, will showcase her work at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens as part of the Art Ventures 30th Anniversary Exhibition from Wednesday, Jan. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 21.
Hager’s piece, Rust and Satin, was selected by the Cummer’s curator Holly Keris for inclusion in the exhibition, which recognizes Hager’s 2014 receipt of a Individual Artist Grant from The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s Art Ventures Fund.
“The original work was created in 2002 during my time in California and inspired by my grandmothers,” said Hager. “I just lost my last remaining grandmother in October 2020, so it's an honor to show this work at this particular moment.”
Hager describes the Rust and Satin series as “the expression of my experiences as a woman. Process, material, and form are the visual vocabulary of these experiences. The processes of casting iron, working with steel, needlework and sewing each represent different aspects of my education and upbringing, but they also signify traditional ideas about men and women in the workplace; labor; industry; and masculinity and femininity. The materials, cast iron, steel, satin, silk, and lace seem to speak for themselves. The weight of the iron and steel connotes strength and permanence, while the texture of satin, silk and lace emanates luxury and elegance. Women’s accessories and adornments are physically beautiful forms. These forms, which reflect the influence of my grandmothers who were both beauticians, also comment on the ideas of feminine beauty and grace.”
Hager has been awarded the The Community Foundation’s Individual Artist Grant twice before. She applied the first towards a parade animal sculpture series inspired by the Chinese Zodiac and the second towards a bronze eagle sculpture currently in progress.
The retrospective exhibition, presented by the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in partnership with The Community Foundation, celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Art Ventures Fund. Thirty artists have been selected to include one work — one for each year of Art Ventures grantmaking.
Art Ventures is an endowed fund at The Community Foundation, launched in 1990 through a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts that was matched by generous local donors. The fund makes grants annually to individual artists and small arts organizations so recipients can explore or refine the next level of their craft, with more than $1.4 million invested since its inception.
Learn more on the Cummer Museum website.