Visit the Hyde Park Art Center for refreshments and informal conversation with our third Jackman Class resident, Portland-based social practice artist and scholar Jen Delos Reyes, to learn more about her current research and engage in a conversation about art in everyday life inspired by Linda Montano’s Seven Years of Living Art. In Chicago for two months, Delos Reyes is working on-site at the Art Center with students, our public, and within Chicago to expand her interest and research with socially engaged practice.

On July 27 from 2-4pm Delos Reyes will open the doors to her studio and visitors can get an in depth look at the beginning stages of her research being conducted into art/life practices. This research will culminate in a book in the coming years titled, I’m Going to Live the Life I Sing About In My Song: The Artist Impetus Towards Art in Everyday Life.

Delos Reyes’ research interests include the history of social practice, group work, band dynamics, folk music, and artists’ social roles. She has exhibited works across North America and Europe, and has contributed writing to various catalogues and institutional publications. She has received numerous grants and awards including a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant. Jen is the founder and director of Open Engagement, a conference on socially engaged art practice and herself speaks widely on Art and Social Practice at conferences and institutions around the world. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Portland State University where she co-directs the Art and Social Practice MFA.