Marisa Morán Jahn, also known as Marisa Jahn (born 1977)
is an American multimedia artist, writer, and educator based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. She is a co-founder and president of Studio REV-, a nonprofit arts organization that creates public art and creative media to impact the lives of low-wage workers, immigrants, youth, and women. She teaches at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a
lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...
,
Teachers College of
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, and
The New School
The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
.
Jahn has edited three books about art and politics.
Early life and education
Marisa is an American of Chinese and Ecuadorian descent.
Jahn is an alum of
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduation, she was a fellow at MIT Media Lab (2008 to 2010) and MIT Open Documentary Lab Fellow (2012 to 2014).
Artwork
Her work integrates storytelling, visual art, performance, writing, and film. Some of her more notable art projects have included the literacy project ''El Bibliobandido'' (2010) in which she created workshops and video with a village in El Pital
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
,
the multi-part project of experimental videos on the black market called ''Video Slink Uganda'' (2013),
''Contratados'' (2014) which is a website to help migrant workers review worksites, ''NannyVan'' (2012) the public art project, mobile app, and phone hotline and the public art project, web series and mobile studio called ''CareForce'' (2017) which addresses issues faced by domestic workers.
''El Bibliobandido'' (2010 – ongoing)
''El Bibliobandido'' (2010) is an ongoing literacy and public art project that centers around a masked bandit that eats stories, terrorizing little kids until they offer stories they've written. Initiated in El Pital
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
, a village in the jungles of northwest Honduras where rural illiteracy rates average 80%, the community has continued Bibliobandido workshops every month, inventing new characters and episodes with nineteen participating villages. Jahn has brought the story-eating villain to other venues in North America including the
Pérez Art Museum Miami
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Cent ...
, 'Caribbean' at the Studio Museum of Harlem,
the Stamps Gallery at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design in Ann Arbor, and the
Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the ci ...
who hosts Bibliobandido-themed trainings to librarians citywide.
''CareForce'' (2017 – 2018)
The ''CareForce'' is a public art project, PBS docu-series (2018) co-produced with Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Yael Melamede (SALTY Features), and two mobile studios — the NannyVan and the CareForce One — amplifying the voices of America's fastest growing workforce, caregivers. Created in partnership with advocates like MacArthur Fellow
Ai-jen Poo
Ai-jen Poo (, ; born 1974) is an American labor activist. She is the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She is also the director of Caring Across Generations, a national coalition of 200 advocacy organizations working to tran ...
and immigrant women who form the 10,000-strong membership of the
National Domestic Workers Alliance
The National Domestic Workers Alliance is an advocacy organization promoting the rights of domestic workers in the United States. Founded in 2007, it is made up of 4 local chapters and 63 affiliate organizations around the country, along with tho ...
, the CareForce uses art, film, participatory dance, and know-your-rights designs to build a movement while informing nannies, housekeepers, caregivers, and their employers about the changing laws. The project is made accessible to workers in public spaces, transit stops, worker centers, and presented to allies and domestic employers at cultural venues such as the
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
,
Pérez Art Museum,
Open Engagement, and more.
''Video Slink Uganda'' (2013)
In 2013, Jahn collaborated with media ethnographer Paul Falzone and a team of East African video jockeys to create ''Video Slink Uganda'', a
Creative Capital
Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has co ...
and
Apexart-supported project that involves slipping or "slinking" experimental films by diasporan artists (
Paul D. Miller a.k.a. Dj Spooky,
Rashaad Newsome with
Kenya Robinson,
Akosua Adoma Owusu, Kamau Patton,
Zina Saro-Wiwa
Zina Saro-Wiwa (born 1976, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) is a Brooklyn-based video artist and filmmaker. She makes video installations, documentaries, music videos and experimental films.
Saro-Wiwa is the founding filmmaker of the alt-Nollywood mo ...
,
Hank Willis Thomas with
Terence Nance, and
Saya Woolfalk) onto commercially pirated DVDs. Dubbed by local translators then circulated within Uganda's bootleg cinemas, these slinked videos play as previews to the main film and were seen by millions of viewers.
''New Day, New Standard'' (2012)
In 2012, Studio REV- and Jahn led a collaboration with Domestic Workers United and members from MIT's Center for Civic Media including
Sasha Costanza-Chock to create a know-your-rights audionovela app called ''New Day, New Standard'' (NDNS) that informs New York-based nannies, housekeepers, and caregivers about their rights under the 2010 landmark Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Recognized by
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
as one of "five apps to change the world", Jahn presented the project at various venues including the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
and
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
.
Curating
With artist and designer Steve Shada, together they founded on
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
of 1999 a San Francisco-based storefront called "Pond: Art, Activism, and Ideas" located in the
Mission District
The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...
. They held 33 exhibitions at Pond and 3 public art projects showcased the work of hundreds of artists including
Amy Franceschini
Amy Franceschini (born 1970, in Patterson, California) is a contemporary American artist and designer. Her practice spans a broad range of media including drawing, sculpture, design, net art, public art and gardening.
She was a 2010 Guggenheim ...
with
Futurefarmers,
Marisa Olson,
Judi Werthein, Gregory Sholette,
Harrell Fletcher, Lize Mogel, Noam Toran, Robby Herbst,
Packard Jennings,
Steve Lambert,
Sarah Oppenheimer, and more. In 2003, Pond produced
Natalie Jeremijenko's OneTrees project that involved planting pairs of genetically-identical trees in 16 microclimates throughout San Francisco.
In 2009 she co-founded Studio REV- with
Stephanie Rothenberg and Rachel McIntire, a non-profit organization that co-designs public art and creative media with low-wage workers, immigrants, women, and youth.
Awards and honors
She is the recipient of various awards including;
Creative Capital
Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has co ...
,
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...
,
Tribeca Film Institute's New Media Fund,
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
,
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) amongst others. She is a recipient of the 2017
Anonymous Was A Woman award
The Anonymous Was A Woman Award is a grant program for women artists who are over 40 years of age, in part to counter sexism in the art world. It began in 1996 in direct response to the National Endowment for the Arts' decision to stop funding i ...
, from
Philanthropy Advisors, LLC, and was shortlisted for the Visible Award in 2019.
Publications
The book Recipes for an Encounter (2009) examines anticipatory nature of recipes together with their promise of what will unfold, take place, be consumed.
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References
External links
Marisa Morán Jahn's artist website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morán Jahn, Marisa
Artists from New York City
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
The New School faculty
American multimedia artists
Living people
1977 births