Janeil Engelstad is an American artist and

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

. Her work focuses on the role of the arts and design in addressing social and environmental concerns. In addition to working independently, Engelstad produces projects through her organization Make Art with Purpose (MAP).

Work

Engelstad's early photography and video work examined gender, identity and the landscape. At graduate school, in a joint program between

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

, Engelstad studied with and was influenced by

Peter Campus Peter Campus (born 1937 in New York, NY), often styled as peter campus, is an American artist and a pioneer of new media and video art, known for his interactive video installations, single-channel video works, and photography. His work is held i ...

and fellow NYU alumni

Félix González-Torres Félix González-Torres or Felix Gonzalez-Torres (November 26, 1957 – January 9, 1996) was a Cuban-born American Visual arts, visual artist. He lived and worked primarily in New York City between 1979 and 1995 after attending university in P ...

. It was during this time that she became concerned with creating spaces for stories underrepresented by the mainstream media. She volunteered as a photography and video instructor at a homeless shelter in

East New York, Brooklyn East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...

. This experience moved Engelstad to focus her work on the then nascent field of Social Practice and co-produce her fist major project, Art Works: Teenagers and Artists Collaborate on the Polaroid 20 x 24 Camera, which included Gonzáles-Torres,

Andres Serrano Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950) is an American photographer and artist. His work, often considered transgressive art, includes photos of corpses and uses feces and bodily fluids. His '' Piss Christ'' (1987) is an amber-tinged photograph of ...

, Laurie Simmons, William Wegman and

Chuck Close Charles Thomas Close (July 5, 1940 – August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealism, photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits ...

. Engelstad has published widely, including zines, essays and op-eds. In 2023 she guest edited and wrote an essay for a special section of Leonardo (MIT Press), the leading international peer-reviewed journal on the use of contemporary science and technology in the arts and music, focused on the work of Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison. The Harrisons were among the founding members of Engelstad's organization, Make Art with Purpose. Beginning in 2022, Engelstad focused her curatorial practice on supporting Ukrainian artists and cultural producers. With curator and art historian Lilia Kudelia, she co-produced Vich-na-Vich (2022) a video exhibition in downtown Dallas in conjunction with the Dallas Art Fair and a series of conversations with Ukrainian artists, writers, curator and cultural producers on the impact of the war on their lives and cultural production, published on MIT's Art Margins Online.

Projects

Voices From the Center

''Voices From the Center'' is an

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

project on changes in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

since the demolition of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. 6] 8] The project stemmed from Engelstad's experience as a Fulbright Program, Fulbright Scholar teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Wanting to understand the impact of socialism on individuals and their outlook towards the USA, in relationship to her own experience growing up in the Western side of

The Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Engelstad had conversations with people about their lives before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many of the participants, who ranged in age from 45–85, felt that despite the historical attention paid to life during Eastern bloc communism, the profundity of their experiences was being lost to history. Engelstad created Voices From the Center with the intention of including views on socialism in Central Europe from all of the

Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four or the V4) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, e ...

countries. The project also included contributions from young adults, who had been children when the wall came down, about their views of life in the

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in post-Soviet states and other formerly communist states located in Central-Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, in which new governments ...

era. People from both groups talked about what freedom meant to them and had the opportunity to express their dreams, fears and hopes for themselves, their country and the world. Material from ''Voices From the Center'' was exhibited at galleries and museums, including Stanica Žilina-Záriečie Cultural Centre (Žilina, Slovak Republic), threewalls (Chicago), libraries public art produced throughout Slovakia, including a public transit campaign and on the project website, https://voicesfromthecenter.net/, which was designed in collaboration with the Polish design team Grafixpol, as an art piece in and of itself. First produced in 2009 in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Engelstad revisited and expanded the project in 2019, with a focus on interviewing people that were part of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

movement in Poland, including Bogdan Borusewicz.

AMPL!FY

AMPL!FY grew from the national project ''Dialogues on Race'', a project that Engelstad designed and produced through Make Art with Purpose. Participants including artists,

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

s, organizations and youth created

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s and posters on

racial equality Racial equality is when people of all Race (human categorization), races and Ethnic group, ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and Civil and political r ...

issues, which were then discussed in community forums. After the

United States Presidential Election, 2016 Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

, Engelstad worked with graphic designer Mark Randall (2017

American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...

Gold Medalist) to change ''Dialogues on Race'' into a project that aimed to address political divisions in a productive way. Project partners of AMPL!FY included the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...

’s Art Program (NYC DOT) and Harlem Stage. Its goal is to create media content and promotion for grassroots organizations working on social and environmental issues. Operating in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 2017 and 2018, AMPL!FY included posters designed by a graphic designer or artist working in partnership with a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, installed in the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, using NYC DOT's exhibition display cases. An accompanying exhibition at MAD included participatory public programs that aimed to "amplify" social and climate issues. Educational programs were also produced on site where students used the posters to discuss topics such as

criminal justice reform Criminal justice reform is the reform of criminal justice systems. Stated reasons for criminal justice reform include reducing crime statistics, racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, under-reporting, and ...

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

and

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...

, and discussions of the role of activist art in the political and social history of the United States.

Beyond Borders

As a visiting artist at the Center for Creative Connections,

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the A ...

(DMA), Engelstad produced ''Beyond Borders'', a project on the links between works of art, focusing on cultures and traditions that are little known or misunderstood. The project was launched at the time of

Executive Order 13769 Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, labeled the "Muslim ban" by Donald Trump and his supporters and critics alike, and commonly known as such, or commonly referred to as the ...

and Executive Order 13780, which affected on travel to the United States, as well as Executive Order 13767 which ordered a wall to be built on

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

. Engelstad created a set of laminated cards featuring six works of art from the DMA's permanent collection. The front of each card includes an image of the selected work of art and a phrase that Engelstad wrote or found. Her interpretation of the work of art is on the back of each card. The set of cards, in Spanish and English, also includes a map of the three floors of this tour. ''Beyond Borders'' also included public programs for museum visitors.

Art and the environment in Eastern and Central Europe

Engelstad was guest producer of a special issue of the online edition of the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

journal ''ARTMargins'', on historical and contemporary environmental art in the former

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

countries and their relationship to

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and the legacy of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. Participants included Nina Czlegledy, Maja and Reuben Fowkes, Tamás Kaszás, Marjetica Potrč and Rudolf Sikora. The project included interviews and other forms of interaction with artists and cultural producers concerned with the idea and the material reality of what goes by the name of the "natural environment."

Peace Room / Make Room for Peace

Engelstad sent questionnaires to people in living in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

on their ideas about peace following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The material that was sent to Engelstad by the survey participants, including poetry, prose, images and music was collected into a book and was followed by design of a public space with furniture and tableware within the gallery. The exhibition space was used to discuss the many different definitions of peace and the tangibility of peace within individuals and groups. Peace Room / Make Room for Peace was published in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' newspaper, where readers were asked to contribute their own vision of peace to be designed on their own peace plate. Families, school and church groups, individuals and pairs from the U.S. states of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

sent in designs. A panel, consisting of Engelstad, a peace policy professional and editors from the ''Tribune'' selected the winning designs.

Peace Signs / Visualizing Violence

In partnership with Mark Randall of World Studio, Engelstad created and produced a multi-platform media art project called ''Peace Signs'' on youth

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...

in San Francisco,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, New York and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Each iteration of the project included workshops for

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

students in design,

media literacy Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze Media (communication), media messages, as well as create, reflect and take action—using the power of information and communication—to ma ...

and violence prevention. The material and events produced through ''Peace Signs'' included

s, transit posters, exhibitions, public talks and a peace parade.

Identity/Identité

Produced in collaboration with Canadian artist Deborah Bennett in

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, the year-long project ''Identity/Identité'' was on the relationship between language, cultural identity, and nationalism between the citizens of English and French speaking Canada. Work produced through this project was exhibited in galleries and libraries, and projected from

storefront A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a b ...

s in Toronto and Montréal. Project partners included

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2023 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making i ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, Oboro Art Centre, and

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Make Art with Purpose

In 2010 Engelstad founded ''Make Art with Purpose'' (MAP). Working in collaboration and across disciplines, MAP invites communities in the design and production of work to co-produce work on international social and environmental issues.

Articles, Criticism, and Publications

Voices From Ukraine, a series of chat books, documenting Janeil Engelstad's conversations with artists and other cultural producers in Ukraine, Make Art with Purpose, Dallas, TX, 2024 Remembering The Harrisons. Guest Editor. Introduction, endnote author
Leonardo
(peer review), MIT Press, June 2023 Helen and Newton Harrison: Reimagining the Context of Art, Author
The Nature of Cities
(peer review), 2023 Vich-na-Vich: A Conversation – Ukraine Extreme Care Time
ARTMargins on-line
August 1, 2022 MAP2020: The Further We Roll, The More We Gain. Exhibition Catalog, Editor, Art Director, introduction author, Make Art with Purpose, Dallas, TX, 2020 Laco Teren at Slovak National Gallery.''
eutopia
January 2020 Franciszka Themerson at Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art.''
eutopia
January 2020 Present, Engage, and Finally, Love: The Art Conference as a Site of Action and Departure. In: Exploring New Horizons (peer review), edited by Mary Sherman, Vernon Press, Wilmington, Delaware, 2019 Markus Schinwald at CCA Wattis for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco.''
Temporary Art Review
July 2016 MAP – Make Art with Purpose: Building Relationships and Initiating Change. In: Developing Civic Engagement in Urban Public Art Programs, edited by Jessica L. DeShazo and Zachary Smith (peer review), pages 103 – 107. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, 2015 Ed Atkins: Ribbons.''
Temporary Art Review
September 2015 Sean Miller at Pariah.''
eutopia
August 2015 Zanele Muholi at Brooklyn Museum.''
eutopia
July 2015 At Dade Middle School Art has made a positive difference. Op-Ed
Dallas Morning News
May 29, 2015 Marcus Schinwald at CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, San Francisco.''
eutopia
Feb/March 2015 Ed Atkins, Ribbons.''
eutopia
September 2014 Art & the Environment in East-Central Europe. Organized multi-platform virtual and print project
ARTMargins online
and ARTMargins journal (peer review), MIT Press, July 2014. Rebecca Carter, Sleep Architecture and the Dream House.''
eutopia
April 2014 MAP 2013: The Workbook. Editor, Art Director and Introduction Author, Make Art with Purpose, Dallas, TX,2014 Art, Activism and Community: Achieving Action with Labour. In: Transmission Annual: Labour Work Action, edited by Michael Corris, Jaspar Joseph-Lester and Sharon Kivland, pages 39 – 43. Artwords Press, London, UK, 2013 MAP: Make Art with Purpose. In: The Dallas Pavilion, edited by Michael Corris and Jaspar Joseph- Lester, pages 76- 79, Free Museum of Dallas, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, 2013 The Nurse. Essay for The Nurse, Katherine L. Ross exhibition catalog, Lillstreet Learning Center, 2002 Art Works: Teenagers and Artists Collaborate on the Polaroid 20 x 24 Camera. Publication Coordinator and Forward Co-Author, The Education Project, New York, NY, 1993

Awards & Honors

Artist Residency Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Artist Residency, 2024 COIL Fellow, University of Washington, 2023 Red Bull, Artist Grant, 2020 Nasher Sculpture Center, Artist Grant, 2020 Laźnia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk, Poland, Artist in Residence, 2019 Dallas Museum of Art, Visiting Artist, 2017 Dallas Mastermind Award, 2014 Fulbright Scholar, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 2006

References

External links

Homepage

Make Art with Purpose

Voices From The Center

The MAP Radio Hour
Engelstad's podcast
AMPL!FY: Leveraging the power of art and design to advance the front lines of socialjustice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelstad, Janeil Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women artists American curators American women curators New York University alumni University of Washington alumni Artists from Seattle