JASON HOELSCHER STUDIO | ABOUT / CV
ABOUT
Jason Hoelscher Studio, led by artist, professor, and curator Jason Hoelscher (MFA, PhD), brings 30 years of international exhibitions and public art experience to creating site-responsive artworks for shared civic spaces, with over 200 art installations to date. Integrating hands-on studio practice with academic research skills and executive education in Design Thinking and Innovation from Harvard Business School Online, the studio translates dynamic ideas into clear, accessible, community-centered work. Operating as a contract-ready LLC, we collaborate with public agencies, architects, engineers, and fabricators to deliver durable, code-aware, high-impact artworks from first concept through final installation, supported by professional coordination and long-term maintenance planning.
ABOUT
Jason Hoelscher Studio, led by artist, professor, and curator Jason Hoelscher (MFA, PhD), brings 30 years of international exhibitions and public art experience to creating site-responsive artworks for shared civic spaces, with over 200 art installations to date. Integrating hands-on studio practice with academic research skills and executive education in Design Thinking and Innovation from Harvard Business School Online, the studio translates dynamic ideas into clear, accessible, community-centered work. Operating as a contract-ready LLC, we collaborate with public agencies, architects, engineers, and fabricators to deliver durable, code-aware, high-impact artworks from first concept through final installation, supported by professional coordination and long-term maintenance planning.
CV
OVERVIEW
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
PRIMARY DISCIPLINES AND MEDIA
SELECTED PUBLIC AND SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC PROCESS
SELECTED PUBLIC ART FINALIST, SHORTLIST, AND REGISTRY SELECTIONS
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
SELECTED PRESS AND MEDIA
SELECTED VISITING ARTIST AND PUBLIC LECTURE ENGAGEMENTS
RELATED EXPERIENCE AND LEADERSHIP
OVERVIEW
- Studio lead Jason Hoelscher is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator with over 30 years of national and international exhibitions and public art experience in cultural centers, civic spaces, healthcare environments, airports, and park and leisure settings. His practice is known for conceptually rigorous, visually bold, and durable site-specific works that engage diverse audiences while integrating seamlessly with architecture and everyday use.
- Projects led by Jason Hoelscher Studio include a $100,000 architectural terrazzo suite for Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, a fast-track commission delivered from initial design to finished installation in under five months and nominated for a 2025 National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association Honor Award and an Associated Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Award. Additional highlights include an MIT and Harvard curatorial commission in Boston City Hall Plaza that drew extensive press, more than 50,000 visitors, and recognition as "one of the most Instagrammable spots in Boston" the week it debuted.
- The studio has recently advanced as a finalist for over $800,000 in major public art commissions across Rhode Island, Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Washington, reflecting consistent selection committee confidence and experience serving diverse communities.
- Hoelscher holds an MFA in studio art, a PhD in aesthetics and art theory, and executive education in Design Thinking and Innovation from Harvard Business School Online, bringing research-driven, user-centered systems thinking to site analysis, stakeholder engagement, and problem-solving across complex public art contexts. He has spent nearly two decades as a Professor of Interdisciplinary Art and more than ten years as a university Art Gallery Director, planning, budgeting, and implementing over 200 art installations, from gallery exhibitions to large-scale, multi-site projects requiring cranes, forklifts, and extensive coordination.
- The Jason Hoelscher Studio LLC methodology, From Concept to Crane Lift, translates environmental conditions, spatial patterns, and the ways communities inhabit a place into dynamic, buildable artworks. Using an AEIOU framework—focused on Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects, and Users—the studio develops fabrication-ready, code-aware, and low-maintenance work in close coordination with architects, engineers, fabricators, and installers. The result is public art engineered for long-term performance that activates space, supports everyday use, and strengthens the rhythms of place.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
- Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. PhD: Aesthetics and Art Theory. Portland, ME, 2018. (Dissertation advisor: Brian Massumi)
- Pratt Institute. MFA: Painting. New York, NY, 2000
- Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. BFA: Painting and Drawing. Denver, CO, 1998
- Harvard Business School Online: Executive Education Program. Certificate: Design Thinking and Innovation. Cambridge, MA, 2025
- New England Complex Systems Institute. Certificate: Complex Physical and Social Systems and Network Modeling. Cambridge, MA, 2014
PRIMARY DISCIPLINES AND MEDIA
- Murals and integrated architectural wall works (paint-based, tile, mosaic systems)
- Terrazzo and floor-based installations (public concourses and high-traffic environments)
- Sculpture and installation (powder-coated steel; fabricated elements; site-specific systems)
- Multimedia/interactive components (as appropriate to context and site requirements)
SELECTED PUBLIC AND SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS
- Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (2025). $100,000 site-specific terrazzo floor medallion suite for new concourse. Fast-track commission from initial design to finished installation in less than five months. Nominated for a 2025 National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association Honor Award and an Associated Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Award.
- HUBweek Art and Technology Festival, Boston City Hall Plaza (2017). Pollinate, commissioned curatorial civic installation in partnership with MIT and Harvard University. Extensive television, radio, online, and print coverage, including multiple mentions in a front-page Sunday Boston Globe article and a vote as "one of the most Instagrammable spots in Boston" the week it debuted.
- West Virginia Wesleyan College (2024). Surface Tension, commissioned installation.
- Museum of Contemporary Art: Denver (2019). Nth Dimension, invitational installation.
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Georgia (2019). Gathered IV, juried installation.
- Jacksonville University (2017). Syntaxiomatic, commissioned installation.
- Lacoste Autumn Festival, France (2013). Conceive and Create, invitational installation at seven sites across a town in southern France.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC PROCESS
- Long-term administrative leadership as Gallery Director: coordination with campus and community partners, vendors, installers, and safety/operations teams to deliver projects on time and within budget.
- Regular public-facing programming through lectures, gallery talks, and visiting-artist engagements; comfortable translating complex ideas into accessible, community-centered narratives.
- Experienced working within public processes that incorporate community input, including stakeholder meetings, site walks, and collaborative reviews with city staff, architects, and partner organizations.
SELECTED PUBLIC ART FINALIST, SHORTLIST, AND REGISTRY SELECTIONS
- Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. Architectural terrazzo installation, Reno, NV, 2026. Finalist, design proposal stage
- Snow College Social Sciences Building. Integrated floor and wall works, Ephraim, UT, 2025. Finalist, design proposal stage
- Regan Unit, Eleanor Slater Hospital. Multi-part mural, Warwick, RI, 2025 (one of three finalists selected out of 200+ submissions). Shortlisted
- High Line Canal Park Commission. Interactive sculptures, Denver, CO, 2025. Shortlisted
- Kensington Park. Two sculptures, Westminster, CO, 2025. Shortlisted
- Pleasant Ridge Arts Council. Mural, Pleasant Ridge, MI, 2025. Shortlisted
- Accepted Artist, Pre-Qualified Registries. NYC Department of Cultural Affairs: Percent for Art Artist Directory. City of Bellingham, Washington: Pre-Qualified Artist Registry.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- Lamasco Gallery. Curvitecture, Evansville, IN, 2024
- Wren Gallery. Simplexity, Artsy/Los Angeles CA, 2018
- Hoffman-LaChance Contemporary. Iconographic Overdrive, St. Louis, MO, 2016
- TGB Gallery. Full Spectrum, Berlin, Germany, 2011
- Rule Gallery. Attention Span Management, Denver, CO, 2009
- Cornell DeWitt Gallery. Scope New York, New York, NY, 2004
- OK Harris Gallery. Recent Paintings. New York, NY 1999
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- Site: Brooklyn. The Power of Abstraction, Brooklyn, NY, 2024
- Traveling group exhibition. See Me, multi-venue international tour, 2024
- Projects Gallery. Aqua Art Miami, Miami, FL, 2011, 2016, 2018
- ParisCONCRET. Paris, France, 2011, 2013
- Farm Project Space. Space-Time, Provincetown, MA, 2013
- Stockholm Independent Art Fair. Stockholm, Sweden, 2012
- Moot Gallery. Year of the Rabbit, Hong Kong, China, 2010, 2011
- Splashlight Studios. RXArt, New York, NY, 2006
- LA Center for Digital Art. Snap to Grid, Los Angeles, CA, 2005
- White Columns. Groundswell, New York, NY, 2003
SELECTED PRESS AND MEDIA
- Artrepreneur Orange Book NYC. Artist Spotlight, March–April 2023
- Westword. Feature coverage, August 2019
- The Boston Globe, Sunday Edition. Feature article, October 14, 2017
- The Boston Globe Online. Multiple features, October 2017
- Boston WHDH-TV Channel 7 (NBC affiliate). Interview, October 14, 2017
- The Riverfront Times. Must-See Exhibitions This Week, September 2017
- Professional Artist Magazine. Artist profile, November 2011
- Art Ltd. Magazine. Solo exhibition review, February 2010
- Saatchi Online Magazine. Critics Choice: Jason Hoelscher, September 2007
- Westword: Best of Denver Issue. Best Solo Show: Emerging Artist: Jason Hoelscher, April 1998
SELECTED VISITING ARTIST AND PUBLIC LECTURE ENGAGEMENTS
- Emerson College. Visiting artist and speaker, Boston, MA, February 2025
- Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Commencement speaker, May 2024
- UCLA. Respondent lecture, Los Angeles, CA, July 2022
- HOW Art Museum: Shanghai. Curatorial residency, June–August 2020
- Museum of Contemporary Art: Denver. Visiting artist and speaker, August 2019
- Apex Art. Juror of curatorial proposals, New York, NY, October 2018
- Morris Museum of Art. Public lecture, Augusta GA, May 2016
- Andy Warhol Foundation. Arts Writers Grant Program Workshop. January–December 2015
- Massachusetts College of Art. Visiting artist and speaker. Public lecture and class visits, Boston MA, February 2014
RELATED EXPERIENCE AND LEADERSHIP
- Georgia Southern University (2015–present). Professor of Interdisciplinary Art and Gallery Director. Oversight of five galleries and a sculpture garden, curation and installation of 200+ exhibitions and art integrations, mentoring of MFA and BFA students. Experience engaging multiple stakeholders, managing six-figure budgets, handling complex logistics, and implementing multiscale installations.
- Duke University Press (2021). Author, Art as Information Ecology: Artworks, Artworlds, and Complex Systems Aesthetics.
- ArtPulse Magazine (2013–2021). Art critic and contributing editor, Miami, FL
- ARTnews Magazine (2015–2016). Art critic, New York, NY
- Burnaway (2015–2018). Arts writer, Atlanta, GA
- Savannah College of Art and Design (2007–2014): Instructor, Painting and Foundations, Savannah, GA
- Susan Sheehan Gallery (2002–2007). Assistant Director. New York, NY
- Mary Heilmann Studio (2000–2002). Studio assistant. New York, NY and Bridgehampton, NY, 2000-2002
- Pat Hearn Gallery (1998–2000). Registrar and art handler. New York, NY
