3Arts Chicago Artist: Make a Wave Artist, Jennifer Hodges

3arts.org/artist/Jennifer-Hodges/
​3Arts is a nonprofit organization that supports Chicago’s women artists, artists of color, and Deaf and disabled artists who work in the performing, teaching, and visual arts.

​Make a WaveMake a Wave is an artist-to-artist giving program that erases the traditional gatekeeper by inviting each of the previous year’s 3Arts Award recipients to select another artist to receive a surprise grant from 3Arts—in effect sending a wave through Chicago’s brilliant cultural core.
Thanks to our 2021 Make a Wave Presenting Partner, The Joyce Foundation, we are making a bigger wave than ever before by doubling the grant to $4,000 each and inviting all past 3Arts Award recipients to select artists this year. We are also grateful to the Siragusa Family Foundation for being our Make a Wave Partner and to the Reva & David Logan Foundation for providing general operating support for this program.

Jennifer L. Hodges is an abstract acrylic and mixed media visual artist originally from Detroit. Hodges received a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Western Michigan University and a Master of Business Administration through the Baumhart Scholars program at Loyola University Chicago. Hodges serves as Vice President for a public charter school system where she leads the Whole Child Initiative.
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Jennifer's creative career has been strategically integrated into her formal education and has spanned more than 20 years. Hodges began writing poetry at age 11 to manage personal trauma and began painting while pursuing her undergraduate degree. Hodges now exhibits across the U.S. and her work has been added to many private collections. She is consistently creating new work in her South Side Chicago studio. Her work represents a contemporary exploration of the Black experience with a spotlight on the various aspects of Black femininity. She intends to evoke feelings, stimulate thought, and enhance ambiance. Her work is a place to explore without boundaries, relish in liberated creativity, and challenge thought, education, and experience. She draws creative inspiration from the metaphysical, psychology, and spirituality. Her choice of color combination and texture through mixed media aims to inspire spirituality, cultural connection, and an overall sensory connection for the viewer, making them feel represented in the work of art.