JESSICA BLINKHORN

Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn was born in Marietta, Georgia on June 24th 1979. at the age of 3 years old she was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a disease her older sister, Erica, had been diagnosed with 2 years earlier and her younger brother, JB, would been diagnosed with 2 years later. Growing up Blinkhorn looked for ways to standout and began to excel in Art at the startling age of 3. Her mother noticed her abilities and her parents encouraged her creative growth by purchasing art supplies every birthday and Christmas. Blinkhorn received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from Kennesaw State University and followed up with her MFA in Drawing and Painting from Georgia State University. While attending GSU Blinkhorn discovered her love of teaching, like her mother, and performance, like her father. GSU is also where she met mentor Craig Dongoski who encouraged her to use herself in her work and tell her story. "Craig said 'You have this Shaman-like presence. People want to know you. Tell them about you!' Him saying that changed me and I decided to tell my stories with as much truth as I could possibly muster and with little regard to how they would be received by the viewer." 

Blinkhorn suffered the loss of both her siblings and their spirit lives with her and their voices continue to speak through thoughtful elements integrated in each performance. Currently, Blinkhorn works part-time for Georgia State University teaching and Callanwolde Fine Arts as an Instructor of Fine Arts and Art History.Blinkhorn is the subject of the multi-award-winning documentary GROUNDED BY REALITY (2010) and has been featured on ABCNEWS. She has received grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and Artist Fellowship in New York, Change Inc. based out of Florida, and the highly coveted Franklin Furnace Performance Grant from the Jerome Foundation in New York. She has performed throughout the United States and she hopes to perform internationally within the next two years.

“I am an Atlanta-based Artist who is living with a disability. I define myself as a Performance Artist/Storyteller whose works represent individuals from the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities. My work's deal with body positivity, identity, social empathy, and educating society about what it means to be an individual living with a disability.”