Mel Mitchell-Jackson is a San Francisco Bay Area-based adventure artist, illustrator, and educator. They formerly taught at Apple, the Kansas City Art Institute, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Mitchell-Jackson was a studio resident at The Drugstore in midtown Kansas City, Missouri. They were the Founder and Senior Editor of Informality Blog, an online platform for documenting the conversation about Kansas City contemporary art and culture. In addition, they were a Co-Director/Curator at a PLUG Projects and the Director of Subterranean Gallery.
CV
PROJECTS:
2018-2019 PDF Club @ H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
2013-2019 Informality Blog, Founder + Editor in Chief, Kansas City, MO
2016-2017 Plug Projects, Co-Director + Curator, Kansas City, MO
2013-2016 Subterranean Gallery, Director, Kansas City, MO
EDUCATION:
2013 BFA Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
2019-2023 Creative Pro Apple
2020-2021 Online Personal Sessions Apple
2017-2019 Instructor Kansas City Art Institute School of Continuing and Professional Studies
2017 & 2019 Instructor Kansas City Art Institute Pre-College Art Lab — Life Drawing
2013-2014 Instructor Kansas City Art Institute School of Continuing and Professional Studies
2012-2014 Instructor Ford Learning Center - Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
AWARDS | GRANTS | RESIDENCIES:
2015-2019 Drugstore Studios Resident
2016, 2019 Charlotte Street Foundation Rocket Grant Recipient
2015 Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship
2015 Charlotte Street Foundation Rocket Grant Editorial Program 2013 Arts KC Inspiration Grant Recipient 2013 Chicago Artist Coalition Launch Invitational Residency
EXHIBITIONS:
2020 see also: variable performances of a well-designed site index
PNCA Center for Contemporary Art& Culture Portland, OR
2019 Mirror Mirror
PULLPROOF Studio Pittsburgh, PA
Command+Shift+3 (solo exhibition)
JonLovesArt Gallery Lincoln, NE
Lived Interiors (solo exhibition)
Flock Gallery Kansas City, MO
Strata - Layered Meaning
SPIVA Art Center Joplin, MO
2018 Run Riot
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
Cruel Optimism
Gallery 115 at the University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO
Reality
Leedy-Voulkos Art Center Kansas City, MO
2018 Kansas City Flatfile
H&R Block Artspace Kansas City, MO
2017 25th Annual Drawing Show — The Gig Economy
Boston Center for The Arts Boston, MA
Open House
3402 Harrison St Kansas City, MO
Paintbrush Ball: Fundraising Exhibition
Marwen Chicago, IL
Impact: Alumni Exhibition
Marwen Chicago, IL
Attach Files
50/50 Kansas City, MO
2016 trans_late
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
2016 Kansas City Flatfile
H&R Block Artspace Kansas City, MO
Made Fresh All Day
The Drugstore Kansas City, MO
2015 What Am I Looking At?
Kiosk Gallery Kansas City, MO
2013 Year Zero
Parallel Gallery Kansas City, MO
PRESS:
June 1, 2018 Julie Denesha, KCUR, Amid Kansas City’s First Friday Festivities, Guerrilla Docents Try To Actually Talk About Art
June 11, 2016 Cindy Hoedel, Kansas City Star, Rocket Grant winner Melaney Mitchell wants to bring informality to art
May 17, 2016 Cindy Hoedel, Kansas City Star, Winners of Rocket Grants include projects about queer space, a socialist salon
January 12,2016 Liz Cook, The Pitch, Subterranean Gallery’s Melaney Mitchell prepares to move up and out
February 17, 2014 Tracy Abeln, The Pitch, Justin Beachler’s Enterface with the recent past at Subterranean
November 2014 Tracy Abeln, The Pitch, There’s still plenty of First Friday in November
March 2014 Blair Schulman, Cupcakes in Regalia, Young Women in Full, Across the Universe; Two Artists in Counterpoint
March 7, 2014 Tracy Abeln, The Pitch, Layers, lairs and lords: your First Friday hit list
August 22, 2013 Scott Wilson, The Pitch, Subterranean Gallery's Ayla Rexroth: the exit interview
EDITORIAL PROJECTS:
2018-2020 Lessons Learned: A Guide to Defunct Artist-Run Spaces
2017 ARTIST RUN KC
Against the Screen at La Esquina
2016 Sensible Disobedience at La Esquina
Que Pasa, USA an Exhibition at La Esquina
8 ½ x 11” ISSUE 3
VISITING ARTIST LECTURES | PRESENTATIONS | CRITIQUES:
2018 Undergraduate Critiques, Fiber Department, Kansas City Art Institute,
2018 Lecture and Panel Discussion, University of Central Missouri
2018 Visiting Artist, Critiques, Printmaking Department, Kansas City Art Institute
2017 Undergraduate Studio Visits, Exhibition Juror, University of Central Missouri
2017 Undergraduate Critiques, Ceramics Department, Kansas City Art Institute
2016 Lecture, Professional Practice Writing Workshop, Kansas City Art Institute
2015 Lecture, Professional Practice Alternative Spaces, Kansas City Art Institute
CURATORIAL WORK:
2017 Lactobacillus Amongus: S.E.Nash
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
TerraForm: Alexandra Phillips, Gillian Tobin and, Caleb Taylor
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
The Models Origin: Beyond the Core
KCAI Center for Contemporary Practice Kansas City, MO
Future Human: Shelby Burchett , Kevin Heckart, Thad Kellstadt, Anne Vieux, and Angela Washko
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
UN_Earthed: Sarabeth Dunton
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
2016 You'll Never Be Younger Than You Are Today: Frank Abruzzese, Jonathan Apgar, Lyndon Barrois Jr., Matt Bollinger, Kathy Liao, and Vera Iliatova
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
Teaching and Learning: Jessica Kincaid
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
Say I Am: Lauren Frances Adams, Caroline Wells Chandler, Pixy Liao, and Yvonne Osei
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
Yoonmi Nam: Momentarily
PLUG Projects Kansas City, MO
Traces and Trajectories — a Seven Year History of the Rocket Grant
La Esquina Kansas City, MO
The Glory Days Will Not Last Forever an installation by Amy Kligman
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO
2015 Somebody’s Home: Juliana Noelle Lynn and Erin Dodson
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO
Z-SPEC Michael Rose
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO ENTERFACE work by Justin Beachler
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO
2014 [refresh] + [redraw] New Work by Eric Scrivner and Eric Fickes
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO
Kansas City FlatFile August Salon Wall
H&R Block Artspace Kansas City, MO
HOME // SPACE : New Work by R. Shrum
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO
Barred Meadows: New Paintings by Rachel Gregor
Subterranean Gallery Kansas City, MO
PUBLISHED WRITING:
2020 Informality: Welcome to Campus
2019 Informality: Wild Open Spaces and Structures for Futures Unseen
Informality: a conversation with yellow: on the work of b becvar
Informality: Counterpublic : a Future-Visioned Triennial
2018 Informality: From Fleetwood Mac to BDE: Angela Dufresne Makes a Scene
Informality: Meditation for Your Computer
Informality: A love letter to a pillow
Informality: Three Local Shows on Intention Setting in Late Capitalism
Informality: Such Great Heights: The Potentials in Well Loved Ones and All Tomorrow’s Parties
Informality: Home & Away: Diverging Approaches to Landscape with Philip Bakala and Emily Wilker
2017 Informality: A Conversation with Sean Starowitz About Artist-Run Community Catalysts
Informality: Dylan Mortimer on The Drugstore Studios and Connecting Faith Communities to the Arts
Informality: Glenn North on Verbal Attack, and the History & Collaboration in Kansas City’s Spoken Word Community
Informality: A Conversation with Caleb Taylor on the Polish and Perseverance of PLUG Projects
Informality: Artist-Run KC: An Introduction Remembering Beginnings with Garry Noland
VICE The Creators Project: Essay: Open Space, Easy Living Creates Space for Thought in Kansas City
2016 Informality: Keys and Codes: Corey Antis’ Works and Days
Informality: Surprise Ceramics in A Tisket A Tasket at Front/Space
Informality: Guerrilla Docents: Shifting the Carnival (edited)
Art Focus Oklahoma: Guerrilla Docents: Subverting the Carnival
2015 Informality: All is Fair on the Flipside: a Conversation with Peregrine Honig
Informality: Revisiting Past Through Drawing: an Interview with Jonah Criswell
Informality: Art Hidden Beneath the Sugar Sweat: KC First Fridays
Informality: Blanket Undercover Uncovered: an Interview with Megan Mantia and Leone Anne Reeves
Informality: Why Are We Just Standing Here? Dean Levin at Bill Brady KC
Informality: Hotel Art: An Interview with Madeline Gallucci
2014 Informality: #Awkward Addressing Discomfort thru a Social Media Lens
Informality: Alongside The Outside of the Left Side of the Inside: An Interview with James Woodfill
Informality: More on its way in The West Bottoms from 50/50 KC
Informality: Emily Kenyon and the American Dream Informality: Take Stock: The Artistic Dichotomy Forming in the West Bottoms
Informality: Short Review: Farstad and Donner Powerful Storytellers at Plug Projects
Informality: A Conversation With Jessica Borusky
Informality: First Friday Informal// Inform Review
8&1/2 x 11: Can Artists Using Tumblr Learn Something from the Music Industry?
Informality: Write Now
2013 Informality: Tumblr Reblogging: We Can Own an Experience of Objects
Informality: The Last Time I Made a Sim of Myself: Finding Ourselves Through Fictional Worlds
Informality: iPhone Mementos: How the Camera Roll is Changing How We Recollect
Alt Crit: How The Attention Economy of MySpace Fostered Scene Hair
KCAI PNTG: OK| KC : An Exploration of Midwestern Regionalism
KCAI PNTG: Alumni Feature: Molly Kaderka
KCAI PNTG: A Strenuous Nonbeing: The Cat Video and Accessibility
KCAI PNTG: If Only a Fool: Exhibition at City Ice Arts Building and Interview with Chris Daharsh
2012 Subterranean Gallery: Studio Visit With Amanda Gehin
Subterranean Gallery: A Night With Archie Scott Gobber & Mike Erickson
Subterranean Gallery: An Evening with Kate Hackman & Raechell Smith
Subterranean Gallery: A Night with Hesse McGraw & Josh Shelton