ARTIST

Jason Pollen received his graduates and undergraduate degrees from the City University of New York. He is an internationally acclaimed arts, designer and educator. He served on the faculties of the Royal College of Art in London, Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute in New York City, and as Professor and Chair of the Fiber Department at the Kansas City Art Institute. He has had numerous solo and group shows in the United States, Europe and Asia. He has designed textiles for dozens of major fashion and home furnishing firms. Pollen collaborated as scenic designer for the Kansas City Ballet. He is currently Professor emeritus of the Kansas City Art Institute, President emeritus of the Surface Design Association, and an American Craft Council Fellow. The Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina honored him with the Outstanding Artist/Educator award in 2012. His most recent exhibition is his “Witness” Retrospective at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center in Kansas City 

TEACHER

Jason Pollen retired in 2010 as chair of the fiber department at the Kansas City Art Institute, where I had taught since 1983. He has conducted several workshops a year in the United States and abroad to help artists expand their visual vocabulary and develop a uniquely personal and communicative language. Jason no longer wish to teach processes or techniques; those can be acquired relatively easily. What he is passionate about is mentoring students through the maze of materials and ideas to a path that leads to more fully developed bodies of work.