Education history
- M.F.A., Studio Art, emphasis: Painting, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota
- B.A., Studio Art, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø
Art is a unique subject. Unlike many areas of study which require the student to find the "correct" answers to given assignments, art courses encourage students to explore the unknown, sometimes discovering solutions to problems that even their instructors don't see coming!
It is through artistic expression that we as a society can exercise our brains to see creative new answers to the problems in every walk of life. Whether your goal is to solve our society's larger problems of poverty and global warming or you are tackling smaller tasks like designing a successful website, redecorating your office or painting a mural in a public park, a fertile creative mind is vital.
My goal as an educator is to help students realize their unique potential in life, whatever their professional interests may lay.
Chris Janzen is a guitarist, visual artist, and composer. His multimedia projects and oil paintings have been exhibited throughout the US including west coast institutions such as the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Alphonse Berber Gallery, Electric Works, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø Art Museum, and Arte Americas. Janzen is Assistant Professor of Art and Adjunct Instructor of Music at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø where he teaches painting, drawing, 2D/3D Design, and jazz guitar.
Selected works
- Dinner (Or, A Deranged Event Staged in a Theoretical Mansion, in Which Time and History Have Been Grossly Suspended and What We Know as the Laws of Physics Wildly Subverted, Conducted as an Inquiry into the Genius of Madness and the Art of the Faux Pas, and Having as a First Course to be Served to a Cast of Sixteen Eccentrics A Dish of Carrot Cabbage Salad Meant to Tickle Every Palate), a collaboration with poet Jesse Nathan, presented during Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø's Rogue Festival March 2010, as well as in October at the Alphonse Berber Gallery, Berkeley, California; and First Mennonite Church, Reedley, California; debuted at Bethel College (Kansas) Krehbiel Auditorium, October 2008
- Frosty Cowgirl at Chris Sorrensen Studio, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø, January 2010
- Healing the Whole Part I, Healing the Whole Part II, Collective Memory at Art by Hand, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø, February 2010
- Peeve Pet and Hula Therapy at Fig Tree Gallery, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø, January 2010
- Consumption Theory III and Consumption Theory IV at Art By Hand, November 2009
- Recent Work, solo exhibit, Bethel College Gallery, North Newton, Kansas, October 2008
- In the World, Not of it: Recent Works by Chris Janzen, solo exhibit, North Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø Mennonite Brethren Church Gallery, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø, California, February 2008
- Marcos Dorado and Chris Janzen, with Marcos Dorado, Tower Mosaic, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø, California, February 2008
- Paintings, solo exhibit, McDonald Hall Gallery, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ¹ÙÍø, California, September-October 2007
- Conflict and Resolution, Gallery 110, Vermillion, South Dakota, May 2007
- Popular Confusion, solo exhibit, Nuance Gallery, Beresford, South Dakota, April-May 2007
- Briar Cliff Review Art Exhibit, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa, April 2007
- The Color of Sound, Touch of Europe, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, April 2007