I was the Project Coordinator for the Bigger Vision Community Shelter Mural Project, a collaboration between faculty, graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art and Bigger Vision Community Shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Athens, GA.

Together, an interdisciplinary team of artists collaboratively designed murals with Bigger Vision shelter guests and staff through a sustained process of dialogue and exchange of ideas.

The murals, measuring over 1100 sq. ft. of wall space, were painted at the shelter by over fifty students in the Spring Semester of 2023.

The shelter’s outreach director has said that the murals will make Bigger Vision into “an Athens City Landmark” and bring needed attention to their mission.

The project was organized by a team of graduate student artists including myself and Caitlin la Dolce, Jasmine Best, Hayden Maltese and Lucas Eytchison.

(Photo credit: Lucas Eytchison)

The INTO LIGHT Project aims to change the conversation about drug addiction. Founder Theresa Clower lost her son Devin to opioid addiction and found solace in drawing his portrait. She conceived of a national project to “put a human face on the disease of addiction,” changing the conversation and erasing the stigma associated with drug addiction. Theresa aims to draw portraits of victims of the opioid epidemic in all fifty states of the U.S., displaying them along with professionally-written narratives about their lives to depict the whole person. Families are invited to the exhibits and are gifted the portraits. Theresa and I worked together closely during her conception of INTO LIGHT, which is now a national exhibition project. I continue to be an artistic advisor for the project, and drew a few of the portraits in the Spring 2022 Florida exhibition.

In the Spring of 2022 I worked with MFA Costume and Scenic Designer Jordyn Seever at the University of Georgia to assist with the set design for UGA Theatre’s production of Avery Crozier’s play Eat the Runt. I organized an art call featuring sixteen artists from Athens, Atlanta and Los Angeles, creating a stage set replicating a contemporary art museum.

Featured artists include: Peyton Bailey, William Ballard, Sally Garner, Chad Hayward, Kate Kosek, Eric Martin, Leeza Negelev, Jason Rafferty, Maya Ragbeer, Alejandro Ramirez, Quynh Tien Ngoc Tran, Jose Trejo-Maya, and Rachel Warren.

In Spring 2022, I designed and helped paint the first mural at the Bigger Vision Community Shelter in Athens, GA, using donated paints.

In Summer 2022, while taking a Critical Multicultural Studies in Art Education graduate course, I coordinated a community-engaged design project with shelter guests to envision a second mural for the shelter’s recreation and dining room.

In Summer 2016 the Travel Channel series The Dead Files was shooting in Western North Carolina and contracted me as a sketch artist to draw depictions of paranormal activity. In the show, “A homicide detective and a medium combine their sixth senses to investigate haunted locations where a deadly crime was committed.” I drew a portrait drawing of a deceased woman, as well as a drawing of a spirit emerging into a bedroom, as described verbally to me by medium Amy Allan. I appeared on the show with a few lines and was depicted creating the drawings, which were later revealed on the episode. This was Episode 1 of Season 9, titled “The Sacrifice.” I had a lot of fun being a part of this project!

In May 2016 the Oscar and BAFTA-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was being shot near Asheville, NC, and I was contracted to create drawings to be used as props for the film set. I worked closely with Art Department Coordinator Jessica Segal to create portrait drawings of actress Kathryn Newton, playing the character Angela Hayes. The director Martin McDonagh requested additional drawings, including the cow skull image above. Unfortunately the scene ended up being cut from the final film, but it was a wonderful opportunity to work with them on this project!

In Asheville, North Carolina, the French Broad River runs through the region and is one of the world’s oldest rivers geologically. The environmental group River Link works to ensure the river has a thriving habitat, removing waste and promoting responsible outdoor recreation. From 2014-17, I worked collaboratively with a group of local artists to organize annual fundraising exhibitions for River Link, offering artworks created with the French Broad ecosystem as an inspiration. Both the artists and the organization received sales proceeds. The exhibitions have raised tens of thousands of dollars for Riverlink’s environmental efforts. The exhibit was promoted by the city of Asheville, and I also wrote an article on The Abundant Artist blog on how artists can organize similar fundraising exhibitions with nonprofits. Pictured above is “Scene from the Ledges,” an oil painting I created for this exhibition.

In the Fall of 2019, Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC, was opening the Center for Advanced Medicine and requested artworks to outfit the facility with a soothing, healing atmosphere. Working in collaboration with EL Design Studios, I created three 36 x 48” oil paintings for a hallway visited by patients and medical workers going into surgeries.

“We commissioned Jason to do a series for our client. From start to finish Jason listened to what our client’s vision was for the piece and worked with us through many changes. His attention to detail and his skill as an artist are amazing. We look forward to working with him again!” - EL Design Studios