
Janet Jaffke
Janet Jaffke is an international fiber and mixed media artist. She was born and raised in Chicago, and now resides in a small farm town in Alsace, France. She graduated with a BFA from the Chicago School of the Art Institute where she focused on textile design and fiber art.
Upon graduation, she started a business producing hand-painted fabrics for clothing and home.. Her work found its way across the country and into boutiques, upscale department stores and wearable art galleries. Simultaneously she created theatrical costumes, created site specific art installations and worked with commercial photographers for print and film.
In 1999 she was recruited as a participant in a government grant designed to merge artists and designers into the world of computer programers and “new age technology” – namely the internet. She moved her creative energy from her studio to the digital world. In 2013 prompted by love, she moved to a small farm town in Alsace France. After settling into her new husband and home, she made a return to the studio. She participated in the launch of the Nicholas Wilton Creative Visionary Program in 2015. The program exposed her to painting and the world of mixed media. Over the course of time she returned to her first love, fiber and now uses it as her main medium.
Janet has been exhibited in Chicago, Paris, Florence and Basel and has had artist residencies in both the US and Italy.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
2020-Present Critical Discussion, Abstract Art with Cheryl Taves and Bill Porteus
2019 Color & Design Workshop with Mark Eanes, LaRomita School of Art, Umbria Italy
2019 Art2Life Creative Visionary Program
2015 Art2Life Creative Visionary Program
2000 Continuing Education – School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1999 Certificate, Accelerated Multimedia Training, Truman College, Chicago
1982 BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibitions
2022 Fantastic Fibers, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
2021 Women’s Woven Voices Project, Carlsbad, California
2021 Salon d’Automne, Paris, France
2021 Group show, Front of Bicycle, Basel, Switzerland
2021 Connections Art 55, International online exhibition
2020 Associazione Culturale Il Palmerino, Florence, Italy
2020 Advancing Women Artists, Florence Italy, Garzoni Challenge Online Exhibition
2019 Salon d’Automne, Paris, France
2019 Group show, Front of Bicycle, Basel, Switzerland
2018 Group show, Front of Bicycle, Basel, Switzerland
2018 Galerie 21, One person show, Altkirch, France
2018 Artbox Project, Virtual show, New York, New York, USA
2017 Group show, Front of Bicycle, Basel, Switzerland
2017 Salon des 40, Group show, St. Louis, France
2017 Tom Robinson Gallery, Two person show, Chicago, IL, USA
2008 Jackson Junge Gallery, Group show, Chicago, IL, USA
2007 Tom Robinson Gallery, Group show, Chicago, IL, USA
2006 Inside Art, Three women show, Chicago, IL
2004 Annual Celebrity Chair Auction, Chicago, IL, USA
1982 Traveling Fellowship Competition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
Publications
2022 Woven Tale Press
2018 DNA, Journal D’Alsace
1972 Chicago Tribune Style Section
1989 Chicago Times Magazine
1990, 1991, 1992 Women’s Wear Daily
1989 Made in Illinois
Artist Residencies
2020 (February – June) Residenza d’Arte il Palmerino, Florence, Italy
2017 Blueberry View Artist Retreat, Benton Harbor, Michigan
1992 Lakeside Art Center, Lakeside Michigan
1990 Art Park, Lewiston NY
1987 Art Park, Lewiston NY
EXHIBITIONS
Fantastic Fibers
Yeiser Art Center
Paducah, KY
June, 2022
Front Porch Gallery
“Woven Women’s Voices Project”
Carlsbad CA
November, 2021
Salon d’Automne
Paris, France
October 2021
Front of Bicycle / Gallerie Katapult
Basel Switzerland
September, 2021
Connections Art 55
International online exhibition
March, 2021
Salon d’Automne
Paris, France
October 2020
Advancing Women Artists,
Florence, Italy
Spring 2020
Residenza d’Arte il Palmerino,
Florence, Italy
May 2020
Salon d’Automne
Paris, France
October 2019
Front of Bicycle / Braswell Art Center
Basel Switzerland
Juried Group Show
April 2019
Front of Bicycle / Braswell Art Center
Basel Switzerland
Juried Group Show
April 2018
Galerie 21
Altkirch, France
Solo Show
March 2018
Front of Bicycle / Braswell Art Center
Basel Switzerland
Juried Group Show
November 2017
Salon des 40
St. Louis, Alsace, France
Juried Group Show
November 2017
Tom Robinson Gallery
Chicago, Il
2 Person Show
September 2017
Jackson Junge Gallery
Elemental Flux
Group Show
Fall 2011
H. F. Johnson Gallery of Art
Ethereal Fauna: The Artists Muse
Carthage College -Kenosha Wisconsin
Group Show
May 2011
EDUCATION
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
ART RESIDENCY
Residenza d’Arte il Palmerino
Blueberry View Artist Residency