Meet our newest Campus Celeb, Jennifer Jackson! The Art major and Psychology/Architectural Studies minor designs uncredited posters for various clubs and events on campus. She has been recently working closely with the theater department designing posters for upcoming shows. Jennifer also helps run the Coffee Closet in Cummings and works in the Hood Lab, always assisting students with design work. Additionally, she has a website displaying her most recent work (NBD!). When nominated Jennifer Jackson was described as “pretty much a celebrity on campus.” If that doesn’t fit the definition of Campus Celebrity, then we don’t know what does! Read on to check out more about this sensational senior!
Class Year: 2015
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, California
Major: Art with Design Concentration
Minor: Psychology and Architectural Studies
Extracurricular activities: The Coffee Closet, Hood Lab tutor, Cadenza (Literary and Arts Magazine), Active Minds
Personal motto: You can tell a lot about a people by how they approach a salsa bar.
Favorite books: Snow Falling on Cedars and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (books I can pick up and read again and again)
Favorite Dance Anthem: Al Green’s “Love and Happiness”
Favorite place on campus: Mamacoke Island
What is your Honors Art Thesis about?
It’s about examining and attempting to redesign how we think about the process of growing up.
Since you are a Co-Manager of The Coffee Closet, how would you describe your relationship with coffee?
It’s how I get paid, and it’s how I stay awake.
Tell us about your internship. We heard you lived in an attic alone in NY!!!?
Last summer, I interned at a company called Galewill Design, which designs social change programs, communications, advocacy and action. Most of their actual design is done by freelancers in the city, but I was like an in house designer while I was there. I got to work on projects for PBS, the Gates Foundation, and other socially focused groups. It’s located about 30 minutes outside of the city, and I decided it made more sense to live within walking distance to my job. Living in the suburbs is weird though-you can’t just sublet for 3 months. I found this attic that I could rent for the summer online and just went for it. It was sort of crazy. I had no kitchen, no laundry, and no people my age around. I think it’s important for everyone to learn how to live alone with themselves, but it also kind of sucked.
What’s the craziest art piece you have ever created?
Um…I tried to preserve a pepperoni hot pocket in clear resin one time.
Who are your favorite artists? How do they inspire you?
My favorite artists change all the time, especially the more Art History classes I take. Some of my favorites: Emil Nolde, Redon, Durer, Mike Kelley. Most of the time, the artists who are most inspiring don’t make art in the same areas as me. It’s more about being affected by someone else and interpreting that through my own work.
You’re crazy good at design! Can you give us some insight on your awesome website?
I know nothing about web design, despite my countless attempts. You just gotta make something and see if it works.
What is your favorite item in your closet?
I bought myself converse hi tops in 8th grade and I still wear them all the time, even though they are falling apart, which means my feet have been this size since I was 13….
What is your all-time favorite goodie from The Coffee Closet?
Anything with peanut butter
If you could choose any famous person to have dinner with, who would you choose and where would you eat?
My uncle was a graphic designer who died when I was three. Neither of my parents can draw a stick figure, and it’s funny how I seem to be following the direction of my uncle. He wasn’t famous at all, but I know he’d pick a good wine and give me good advice. We’d definitely go to my grandma’s house for spaghetti.
Do you have a favorite class or professor taken at Conn?
There has yet to be a class I wish I didn’t take, but Professor Wollensak’s Design: Public Practice course is one that challenged and changed how I think about design and its purpose.
Do you have an embarrassing Camel moment?
I’m incredibly clumsy, so something along the lines of me falling down in a very public place.
What is one thing you have not checked off your Conn bucket list yet?
I have yet to actually stay in Cummings from sunset through sunrise. Sleepover anyone???
With all you have accomplished, you must have some ideas for post-graduation plans?
Indecision is one of my most practiced skills, so I have no idea. I tend to do slightly dumb things on impulse (I never visited Conn before coming here). One day the plan is to open a bakery with my sister. The next day it’s to take a few years off from school before going to Grad school, and then it’s to move somewhere random (Seattle?) just to see what happens. I’ll definitely stick to the coasts though-I’m looking for jobs in LA (home for me) and New York at the moment.
How do you feel about being Campus Celebrity?
Like any paparazzi would be bored with me as a subject