Education
2008
Masters of Fine Arts, Visual Art, University of Regina; Regina, SK. Intermedia with a research focus on socially engaged art practices.
2003
BFA Honors, University of Manitoba; Winnipeg, MB. Open Media/Drawing.
Teaching
2022-Present
Associate Professor, Art, Cornell University.
2015-2022
Assistant Professor, School of Art & Art History University of Illinois at Chicago.
2015
Kraus Visiting Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University
2008-2014
Assistant Professor, Portland State University. Chair, Art and Social Practice MFA.
2009-2015
PSU faculty collaborator, Public Engagement Initiatives, Portland Art Museum, Education Department.
2013
Artist-Mentor, Oregon College of Art and Craft MFA. Artist-Mentor, Vermont College of Art MFA.
2012
Artist-Mentor, Pacific Northwest College of Art MFA. Artist-Mentor, Boston Art Institute MFA.
2010
Artist-Mentor, Oregon College of Art and Craft MFA. Artist-Mentor, Vermont College of Art MFA.
2008
Adjunct assistant professor, Portland State University. Art and Social Practice.
2006
Sessional Instructor, University of Regina. Intermedia Intermedia Teaching Assistant, University of Regina.
Leadership
2022-Present
Associate Dean, Diversity and Equity, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Cornell University.
2020-Present
Director, Garbage Hill Farm, Chicago, IL.
2015-2022
Associate Director, School of Art & Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago.
2007–Present
Director/Founder Open Engagement
2008–2014
Art and Social Practice MFA Co–Director, Portland State University, Portland, OR.
Selected Books
2022 Delos Reyes, J. Defiantly Optimistic Turning Up in a World on Fire: Collected Writings 2007-2022, Flatland.
2021 Borsato, D, Morel, A (ed), Contributor. Outdoor School: Contemporary Environmental Art, Douglas & McIntyre, 2021.
2020. Delos Reyes, J. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Public Engagement But We’re Afraid to Ask.
2017
Contributor. Say It While You Still Mean It: Conversations on Art and Practice. OE in Print
Contributor. Beyond Critique: Contemporary Theory, Practice, and Instruction. Bloomsbury.
2016 Delos Reyes, J. I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About In My Song: How Artists Make and Live Lives of Meaning. OE in Print.
2015
Contributor. The Everyday Practice of Public Art: Art, Space, and Social Inclusion. Routledge.
2014
Contributor. The Questions We Ask Together. OE in Print.
Delos Reyes, J. A Treasury of Art/Life Quotes, Museums Press, UK.
2013
Editor. Second Edition, Open Engagement: An Anthology, Publication Studio.
Series Editor. Art and Social Practice Reference Points: Temporary Services, Publication Studio.
Series Editor. Art and Social Practice Reference Points: John Malpede, Publication Studio.
Series Editor. Art and Social Practice Reference Points: Center for Urban Pedagogy, Publication Studio.
Series Editor. Art and Social Practice Reference Points: Harrell Fletcher, Publication Studio.
2012
Editor. Open Engagement: An Anthology, Publication Studio.
2010
Editor. A History of Social Practice Art. Portland State University.
2009
We Need To Know Where We Have Been to Know Where We Are Going: A Collaboratively Written History of Socially Engaged Art. Portland State University.
2007
Open Engagement: After Aesthetic Distance Post-Conference Catalogue. University of Regina.
Selected Writing
2022 “PER MY LAST EMAIL: MISSIVES OF FRUSTRATION,
HOPE, AND SOLIDARITY”, Creative Time, NY.
2020 “Finding Your Flock”, Lisa and Lees Bookoff.
2019 “A Rose Named Survivor”, Candor Projects.
2018. “Ask Me About Sunsetting”, Open Engagement.
2017
“To All the Futures We Can Imagine”. Art Practical Issue 8.3
2013
“Public Access: Entry Points into Contemporary Art,” Service Media. Edited by Stuart Keeler. Green Lantern Press.
Burt, Clifton and Lavelle, Nicole, Editors. Share Document: Writings on Design, “Ten Lessons Graphic Designers Learn That Every Artist Should Understand”. Published by Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books, Portland, OR.
2012
“I Can Haz Utopia?: Ben Kinsley and Jess Langley’s Make CATopia Real” Spaces, Cleveland, OH.
2011
“Because We Are Your Friends: Legacies of Institutional Critique in Art and Social Practice.” BOMB Online.
“A Case for a Contemporary Collection of Canadian Folk Music.” Manitoba Folkways Recordings.
“Discotopia: Searching for Paradise on the Dance floor.” Utopia, CS18, Ohio.
“Private Lives,” Art Criticism and Other Short Stories, edited by Helen Reed.
“God Only Knows What I’d Be Without You,” YA5 Volume 1, Issue 2, Container Corps, June 2011.
2010
“Let Knowledge Serve the City: A Social Education”. Part of Condensations of the Social at Smack Mellon, NY.
2009
“Shine a Light: Night at the Museum.” Portland Art Museum.
“You Can Have It All: Emotional Generosity and Art and Social Practice.” University of Cincinnati.
“From The Mass Ornament to the Masses: The Shift From Relational Aesthetics to Social Practice.” York University.
“Never Going Back Again: Remaking Rumours.” Among Friends, Haverford College.
“The Quirky Ones.” MFA Graduate Exhibition catalogue essay, Disjecta, Portland, OR.2008
We are here for you”. Decentre: Concerning Artist–Run Culture. Toronto. YYZ Books.
2007
“Group Work: The Factory, Warhol and Social Engagement.” At the MacKenzie. Regina, SK.
Selected One–Person and Collaborative Exhibitions
2022 The Future of Work: Parallel Economies, Art Gallery of Burlington, Ontario, CA
Voice a Wild Dream: Moments in Asian American Art and Activism, 1968-2022, Oxy Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2020 We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, National Public Housing Museum, Chicago, IL.
2019 Emergent Futures: State of the Field Three days of exchanges and social research in North Carolina’s Triangle & Triad
Little Leyte, UIC Green Space, Chicago, IL
2017
Art Lessons: What I Never Thought I'd Learn About Life From Contemporary Art, Adobe Books, San Francisco, CA.
2016
NFS, EXPO CHGO, UIC, Chicago, IL.
Distant Friends, Ray Gun Gallery, Australia.
2015
Cage Unrequited, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL.
2014
The Last Whole Earth Catalog Library, Design Week Portland, Portland, OR.
The Lovers the Dreamers and Me, Intersite Visual Arts, Calgary, AB.
2013
The Art and Social Practice Workbook, Civic Space, Windsor, ON.
Mind Training, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR.
Counter Craft, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR.
2012
Selling It, EXPO CHGO, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL.
Are You Sure?, OPEN Gallery, Nashville, TN.
You Belong to the Universe, PDX Contemporary, OR.
2011
Manitoba Folkways Collection, Video Pool, Winnipeg, MB.
2009
Block Party, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, SK.
2007
Call/Answer/Release, 5th Parallel Gallery, Regina, SK
Selected Presentations/Lectures
2022 Art of the Rural Lecture for Kansas Field Arts Forum, Pratt, Kansas.
Artist talk, University of Madison, Madison, WI.
Presenter, Chicago 17th Annual Food Justice Summit, Chicago, IL.
Commencement Speaker, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
DIE D.E.I.: A Discussion on the Horrors of Institutional Inclusion, Co-hosted by Stop DiscriminAsian and Museums Moving Forward, with support from the Ford Foundation.
Artist talk, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
2021 Artist talk, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA.
Presenter, Community Arts Caucus at the National Art Education Association, New York, NY.
Moderator, Jane Adams Hull House Museum, Chicago, IL.
Guest lecture, NYU, New York, NY.
2020 Panel, “Matching Minorities//Doubtful Doubles: A Conversation on Institutionalized Racism, Tokenism, Microaggressions, and Inclusion vs. Optics in the Art World”, Common Field.
Artist talk, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
Panel, “Pandemic Lessons: What Just Happened?!”, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL.
Panel, “Future Art Ecosystems”, Shumka Centre, Vancouver, BC.
Artist talk, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Asheville, NC.
Workshop, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL.
Workshop, Reunion Chicago, IL.
Workshop, Fulcrum Residency, Virtual.
2019 Keynote Speaker, NCAA CINCINNATI, Cincinnati, OH.
Invitational speaker, “THE SOCIAL WEAVERS”, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, ON.
Panel, “Inside Out: Cultural Institutions & Communities”, AAMC, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.
Artist talk, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN.
Panel: Feminist Matters, 1968 and Beyond featuring: Kim Nguyen + Eunsong Kim, Kimberly Kay Lamm, Vanessa Parent, and Jen Delos Reyes.
2018 Keynote speaker, XTCA Symposium, UMass Amherst, UMCA.
Invitational speaker, Talking About a Revolution: Art, Design & the Institution, Stamps Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI.
Invitational speaker, Social Practice.Social Justice, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX.
Invitational speaker, Rethinking Art Education for Everyone, Iowa Arts Summit.
Panel, Sustainability and Open Engagement, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY.
2017
Invitational Speaker, The Lovers, The Dreamers, and Me, UIUC, Champaign-Urbana, IL.
Keynote Speaker, Art and Social Change Lillian Smith Symposium, Athens, GA.
Panel, In Conversation: Paul Druecke and Jen Delos Reyes, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI.
Artist Talk, Adobe Books, San Francisco, CA.
2016
Invitational Speaker, Art and the Radical, GVSU, Grand Valley, MI.
Invitational Speaker, Expanded Art History for Plants, UIC, Chicago, IL.
Conversation, In Conversation with Randall Szott, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL.
Invitational Speaker, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI.
Invitational Speaker, Neu-Kirche Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, PA.
2015
Invitational Speaker, Questioning Aesthetics, UC Berkeley, CA.
Invitational Speaker, Alfred University, Alfred, NY.
Invitational Speaker, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA.
Keynote Speaker, What Can Exhibitions Do?, SFAI, San Francisco, CA.
Invitational Speaker, The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY.
2014
Invitational Speaker, Unruly Engagements, Cincinnati, OH.
Invitational speaker, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Invitational speaker, Creative Mornings, Portland, OR.
Invitational Speaker, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI.
Guest Presenter, The Power Plant, Toronto, ON.
Guest Lecturer, Seminary for Embodied and Civic Arts, Los Angeles, CA.
Invitational Speaker, University of Iowa. Iowa City, IA
Invitational Speaker, Mildred’s Lane. Delaware River
Valley, PA.
Invitational speaker, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA.
Keynote speaker, Intersite Visual Arts, Calgary, AB.
2013
Guest Lecturer, School of the Art Institute Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Guest Lecturer, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON.
Moderator, Crafting Conversation: Art and Social Practice and the Art of the Ask. Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR.
2012
Guest Lecturer, Concordia University, Montreal, QC.
Presenter, Americans for the Arts, San Antonio, TX.
2011
Guest Lecturer, University of Willamette, Salem, OR.
Speaker, Conference on the Conference, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC.
2010
Guest Lecturer, University of Willamette, Salem, OR.
Invitational Speaker, Arts Engage! Symposium. NSCAD, Halifax, NS.
Invitational Speaker, EARCOS Conference. Manila, Philippines.
Invitational Speaker, Mildred’s Lane. Delaware River Valley, PA.
Guest Lecturer, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.
Guest Lecturer, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR.
2009
Guest Lecturer, University of Willamette, Salem, OR.
Presenter, Encounters in the Socialverse: Community and Collaborative Art Practice. York University, Toronto, ON.
Guest Lecturer, Haverford College, Philadelphia, PA.
Guest Speaker/Series Curator.
Authentic Enthusiasm SPS, Portland, OR.
2008
Panel Moderator, Social Practice West, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA.
Invitational Speaker, University of Victoria in conjunction with Assume Nothing Symposium, Victoria, BC.
Invitational speaker at Art Building Community Symposium, Winnipeg, MB.
Guest Lecturer, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
Invitational Speaker, Talk with Harrell Fletcher, Camosun College, Victoria, BC.
Invitational Speaker, Truck Gallery, Calgary, AB.
2007
Invitational Speaker, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK. University of Regina, Regina, SK. Artist Lecture.
Guest Lecturer, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017
The Dangerous Professors, Triumph Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2015
Cage Unrequited, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL.
2014
The Art and Social Practice Workbook, L.H. Horton Jr. Gallery, Stockton, CA.
Sheros, Lamp Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2013
Shine a Light, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.
2012
Only Birds Sing the Music of Heaven in This World, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA.
2011
Shine a Light, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.
Band Class, Ditch Projects, Eugene, OR.
The Open Daybook, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.
PDF: Public Document Files. Public Space One, Iowa
City, IA.
Utopia, OH. CS18, Cincinnati, OH.
2010
Shine a Light, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.
Condensations of the Social. Smack Mellon. Brooklyn, NY.
The Incidental Person. Apexart. NY, NY.
2009
Parties Prenantes: Info Point. Bétonsalon, Paris, FR.
Among Friends, Haverford College, Haverford, PA. No
No Gallery Left Behind, Reed Gallery/DAAP, University of Cincinnati, OH.
2008
ASDF. Capricious Gallery. NY, NY.
Free Public Rentals, California State University, Chico. Ayres Hall. CA.
Artcity, Calgary, AB.
Provflux Providence, RI.
Infinite Exchange Gallery, 01 Biennial. San Jose, CA.
2007
Heart Felt Connection, Neutral Ground, Regina, SK.
Creative Activism, Toronto Free Gallery Toronto, ON.
How Fast Your World is Changing, Ampersand Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA.
2006
Swap Meet, Virginia/New York,Richmond, VA/ NY.
You Can Have It All New York City, Salvation Gallery, New York, NY.
City Blocks, Dunlop Art Gallery/City of Regina. Regina, SK.
Double Bounce, Ephemeroptera Art Space. Brooklyn, NY.
In War/At War, OPENSOURCE. Champaign, IL.
Come Together, The Kitchen, New York, NY.
Cover Band, Art Projects Gallery, Regina, SK.
2005
Blur St. , University of Regina, Belgrade, Serbia/Regina, SK.
Best Foot Forward, Outworks Gallery, Winnipeg, MB.
RE–SHELVING INITIATIVE 2, Eyelevelgallery, Halifax, NS.
2003
National Student Film and Video Festival, Regina, SK. Graduate Exhibition, Ace Art, Winnipeg, MB. Untitled, Gallery 138, Winnipeg, MB.
2001
Fire Wire: Video Exhibition, Winnipeg, MB.
Snow Screen, Old Market Square, Winnipeg, MB.
Residencies
2020 Artist as Instigator in Residence, National Public Housing Museum, Chicago, IL.
2017 Artist in Residence, Adobe Books, San Francisco, CA
2014
Participants, Problem Solving Social Practice, University of Iowa, IA.
Artist in Residence, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.
2013
Artist in Residence, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL.
2009
Parties Prenantes. Bétonsalon, Paris, France. 2007
The Berlin Office, Residency. Berlin, Germany.
2006
Come Together: An Intensive Workshop on Art
and Social Engagement, The Kitchen, New York, NY.
2003
Open Studio, Toronto, ON.
Awards/Honors
2015
Honored guest speaker, The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY.
2013
RACC Grant, special projects. Portland, OR.
2012
RACC Grant, special projects. Portland, OR.
2011
RACC Grant, special projects. Portland, OR.
2010
Humanities Sustainability Fellow, PSU, OR.
2009
RACC Grant, special projects. Portland, OR.
2007
Saskatchewan Arts Board Grant, Regina, SK. Saskatchewan Arts Board Grant, with artist Seema Goel. Regina, SK.
2006
HRI VS Award, Humanities Research Institute
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant
Winner Best Experimental, N.S.F.V.F, Regina, SK.
Public Art Commissions
2021
Asians Have Been Here Longer Than Cowboys, SDA commissioned by For Freedoms, Los Angeles, CA.
2007
Tropical Shelters, Regina Transit Authority Project, Regina, SK.
Selected Interviews/Articles
Danielle Wu, “Stop DiscriminAsian Aims to End a Long Legacy of Anti-Asian Hatred in the Art World”, Art News, 2021.
Aruna D’Souza, “Asian-American Artists, Now Activists, Push Back Against Hate”, New York Times, Published April 18, 2021.
2018, Group Work, Woven Magazine
Helmke, Juliet. "Law and Order: Artists Confront Crime." Modern Painters, March-April 2017, p.24.
Fialho, Alex. "Practice Makes Perfect" Art Forum, 2017.
Reamy, Mark. "Open Engagement: An Interview with Jen Delos Reyes." Art 21, 2017.
Interview in Tom Tom Magazine December 2017
Artists In Conversation: Cathy Hsiao x Jen De Los Reyes
Smith, Carmen. "GV Hosts Lecture by Writer Jen Delos Reyes." Grand Valley Lanthorn, 2016.
Coombs, Gretchen. "Reflections on a Weekend Devoted to Socially Engaged Art." Hyperallergic, April 29, 2015.
Miranda, Carolina. "How the Art of Social Practice Is Changing the World, One Row House at a Time." Art News, April 2014.
Johnson, Paddy. "Open Engagement Sunday Recap." Art F City, 2014.
Picard, Caroline. “Open Engagement 2013: No. 1.” Bad at Sports, 2013.
Birchall, Michael. “A Postcard from Portland.” Frieze Publishing, 2012.
Rowe, D.K. “PSU Conference Sees Art Differently.” May 16, 2010. The Oregonian, Portland, OR.
Ingroff, Daniel. “Focusing on the Social at PSU.” Art 21. May 26, 2010.
Rowe, D.K. “‘Shine a Light’ lights up the Portland Art Museum for a Night.” September 21, 2009. The Oregonian, Portland, OR.
Sherlock, Diana. “Viva La Revolution” Artcity Catalogue.
Servin, James. “Change It Up”. HFYWIC Catalogue. Ampersand International Arts. 2008.
Bamberger, Alan. “How Fast Your World is Changing.” San Francisco. 2008.
Bishop, Lynn. “How Fast Your World is Changing.” San Francisco. 2008.
Rhodes, Veronica. “Bus shelters will soon provide tropical-minded transit users with psychological warmth” Leader Post. Feb. 16. 2008. Regina, SK.