JESSICA ELAINE BLINKHORN

Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn began her art career at the tender age of three years old with scribbling on the walls of her family home and though her parents were not all together thrilled with her choice of surface they noticed an ability to draw and fostered her creative side. Blinkhorn received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts with a concentration in drawing and painting from Kennesaw State University in December of 2005. During her time at KSU she received the Churches-Holmes Scholarship, second place in the painting category at the 2004 Student Juried show, was named Outstanding Student for the Fine Arts department for 2005, and was honored for her leadership as the President of A.B.L.E(KSU's disabled student organization) by having a scholarship named after herself and classmate. The Blinkhorn-Holland Scholarship was established to reflect togetherness and equality for all students regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability.

Blinkhorn entered the graduate program at Georgia State University in the fall of 2007 where she excelled academically and socially showing throughout the city and making a name for herself in the local gallery scene garnering the acknowledgement of ABCNEWS. While attending GSU she found her true passion was not just to simply be an artist but to be a performance artist,  mentor, a friend, a voice, and a Professor of Fine Arts. Her determination, cheeky humor, and her ability to relate to those under her instruction caught the eye of Atlanta filmmakers who used her as the subject of their award-winning documentary Grounded by Reality. Blinkhorn received her MFA in drawing and painting from Georgia State University in May of 2010. 

Jessica Blinkhorn began her career as part-time Instructor for Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody in 2011 and took a small leave in 2016-2017. She is currently a full-time Faculty member for Arts and Humanities for Georgia State University, Clarkston, shows and instructs in the downtown Atlanta area, and has her sights set on helping students creating a visual dialogue within their community and city of Atlanta by curating small shows in local venues. 

Blinkhorn has performed throughout Atlanta, GA and at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, IL. She has also been awarded grants from Change, inc., The Artists' Fellowship, Inc, and was a semi-finalist for the Forward Arts Emerging Artist award in 2011.

Jessica Blinkhorn has been generously sponsored by the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. She will be performing on Saturday, April 14 at the University of Arkansas' Art & Design District in Fayetteville.