Jane Calvin

Jane Calvin is an award-winning artist based in Chicago, IL.

Biography

Jane Calvin was born in 1938 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was an avid art collector and Jane was brought up in the art world from the time she was born. She attended classes at the Art Institute of Chicago as a young child and went on to pursue a degree in Art History from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania in 1959. She worked as a private art dealer for some time before deciding to continue her education and become a fine art photographer. She graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago with her MFA. She later went on to be a Professor of Photography at The School of the Art Institute, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Beloit College. She was Adjunct Professor of Photography at Columbia College in Chicago until 2005. Since she started making photographs, Jane has had exhibits across the nation as well as in Germany and China.

Constructing Artwork

Jane constructs her photographs by montaging multiple slide projections and found objects into room-sized assemblages in her studio. She then photographs it, making a tableaux into which layers of meaning are woven [http://www.janecalvin.com/janeswebsite/Templates/statement.htm] . She does not use darkrooms or computer editing, just straight photography. Jane stated, "The images can be seen as my commentary on the political and social roles projected onto society whose desires, manipulated by language and image, conflict with concerns of gender, sexuality, race and female identity." [http://www.janecalvin.com/janeswebsite/Templates/statement.htm]

Awards and Grants

* 2002- Illinois Arts Council Special Assistance Grant, Stuart and Iris Baum Project Completion Grant, Columbia College, Chicago
* 2001- Illinois Arts Council Visual Artists Fellowship Grant
*1999- Illinois Arts Council Visual Artists Fellowship Grant
*1995-1998- Artist's Residency, The Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL.
*1995- Arts Midwest/NEA Regional Visual Artist Fellowship Award
*1993- Illinois Arts Council Special Assistance Grant
*1993- Artist's Residency, The Millay Colony for the Arts, New York
*1992- Chicago Council on Fine Arts CAAP Grant
*1991- Illinois Arts Council Visual Artists Fellowship Finalist Award
*1990- Artist-in-Residence, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MAFinalist, Ferguson Award Friends of Photography, San Francisco, CAPolaroid Corporation Materials Grant (Continuous from 1983-1990)
*1989- Chicago Council of Fine Arts CAAP Grant
*1988- Illinois Arts Council Artists-in-Education Program
*1986-1987- Illinois Arts Council Visual Artists Fellowship Grant
*1985- Purchase Award, Illinois Photographers 85, Illinois State Museum
*1984- NEA Visual Arts Fellowship Grant
*1982- Traveling Fellowship, School of The Art Institute of Chicago
*1980- Purchace Prize Award, New Photograpics '80, Cntrl Washington U. Ellensburg, WA
[http://www.janecalvin.com/janeswebsite/jcresume.pdf] .