This summer, Generator is hosting jen berger as the Artist-In-Residence. jen comes in with experience in printmaking, painting, mixed media, and installation work. A theme she is currently exploring through her public artwork is the idea of care. How the use of care as a lens puts responsibility on artists to truly consider what is being created and put into public spaces.
jen comes to Generator with many years of experience in utilizing care within her artwork and practice. Originally from outside of Philadelphia, she spent time in Chicago and moved to Vermont in 2001. Her interest in herbalism and living closer to plants is why she moved to Burlington. jen has always had an interest in art, however, it was not until after 9/11 that she began to veer away from herbalism and use art as a tool of activism. jen has been bringing people together for many years, through her community-based work, teaching artistry, and as an educator. jen has worked for several higher education institutions in Vermont, such as Community College of Vermont, and Champlain College, and currently teaches art at the University of Vermont. She has been involved with Generator for the last decade, because of her previous work at Champlain College, she came in to work on a project, and using the laser cutter is what kickstarted her relationship with the makerspace. She has brought students here, has had friends who were Artists-In-Residence and has been a member on and off for many years.
Though her art began as activist and social movement-oriented, it has changed to not be less literal as “in your face”, but instead has become more of a personally memorable experience to folks engaging with the work. As the Artist-In-Residence, jen will be working on an installation, tying together the ideas of care, public art, memorials, and monuments, things that have been prevalent in her mind since the racial reckoning of 2020. She will be highlighting the concept of loss, not only physical but intangible, and this will manifest in the form of a multi-alter memorial monument. The piece is intended to be used as a means to bring people together and make it easier to be in the world with one another. jen has spent the last month of her residency practicing and planning, she expresses her love for power tools, and how “there’s a world of opportunities that [she] can just scratch the surface at right now” at Generator. She foresees herself focused on the metal and wood workshops for her installation piece. She is also playing around with a print to accompany the installation.
Though jen is a full-time teacher and artist, she is also a full-time human being. Some of the things she does for fun outside of art are spending time with friends, traveling, swimming, cooking, being outside, hanging out with friends, and dancing. Joy is also a big part of jen’s life, specifically joy as resistance. To jen, going dancing feels like joy, or when she can find time in her day to do something that is not scripted feels like joy.
If you would like to learn more about how joy, care, community, and education take hold in jen’s work visit her business website At the Root, or her Instagram. Also, you can connect with jen, and see her most recent work, on September 6-8 during the South End ArtHop–More Info Here.
