EDUCATION:
M.F.A. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1996
B.F.A. The School of Art Institute of Chicago, 1993
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Current Emeritus Professor at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Visiting Professor at Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China
2008-11 Assistant Professor, College of Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC.
2004-08 Asst. Professor (Tenure Track), School of Art & Design, College of Fine Arts & Communication, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
2000-03 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Art + Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS:
2019-21 * Cary Community project grant recipient, PI
2016 * Fresh Exhibition, Art Space, Raleigh, NC 2nd place Juror award, juror: Marshall Price
2014-15 * Cary Art Center, Cary, NC, “In Cloth We Remember”, Grant Recipient
2014 * 1st “Yango” Biennale, Kinshasa, DR Congo, Selected Artist
Nijmegen Festival, Netherlands, Selected Solo Community Artist
2012 * IFAA Art Platform, Belgium, “Celebrating a Culture of Cultures”, Selected Artist Resident/Fellow
* 1st International Biennial of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco, Selected Artist
2009 * 17th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, Artistic Selection Award
2008-09 * North Carolina Arts Council, Visual Arts Fellowship
2008 * “Imagination as National Competitiveness”, Seoul, South Korea, Keynote Speaker
* World Creativity Summit, Taipei, Taiwan, Keynote Speaker
* Asian Studies Program, East Carolina University, Curriculum Development Award
2007-08 * 8th Annual Contemporary International Juried Exhibition, Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE, Award of Excellence
2006 * Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2003 * Arts Round Town Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, People’s Choice Award
2001 * Grassroots Art Grants, Chatham Arts Council, Grant Recipient
RESIDENCIES:
2020 * Perkins and Will NC, Artist-in-Residence (rescheduling /0
2015 * Art Student League of Denver, Denver, CO, Visiting Artist
2014 * two months residency, Thamgidi Foundation, Arnhem, The Netherlands
2012 * IFAA Platform, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, Artist-in-Residence Fellowship
* Ifitry Art Center, Morocco, Artist-in-Residence Fellowship
2006 * Robert M. MacNamara Foundation, Westport Island, ME Artist-in-Residence Fellowship
* Burapa University, Conburi, Thailand, Artist-in-Residence Fellowship
2003-04 * Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA, Artist-in-Residence Fellowship (NC Representative)
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2021 * “ Walks in Life”-The Arts Center of Carrboro May-June
2020 * “Written/Erased “ –Block Gallery, Raleigh, Jan-March
2019 * Visual Art Exchange,-Cube, Raleigh, NC Aug-Oct
* The Mint Museum uptown-5th floor project space, 300 project, Charlotte, NC April -June
* Meredith College, Department of Art, Raleigh, NC Feb-March
* Cary Art Center, Cary NC Jan-March
2017 * Durham Art Guild: ReConstructing Existence: I create Therefore I am, June 16-Aug 12
* Sertoma Arts Center, Raleigh, NC. “ Half the Sky”
2016 * Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC, “Separation and More”
2014 * Cary Art Center, Cary, NC, “In Clothes We Remember “
2013 * Fred Parker Giles Gallery, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY
* Schoenherr Gallery, North Central College, Naperville, IL, ReMaterialization/Relive Memory
2012 * Lincoln Center, Fort Collins , CO
2011 * Boseman Gallery, University of North Carolina Wilmington
2010 * The Arts Center at the Imperial Centre, Rocky Mount, NC, Materialize Memories
* Rauschenberg Gallery, Fort Myers, FL
* New Arts Program Solo Exhibition and Consultation Residency Competition
2009 * LH Horton Jr. Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA, Dormant Thought
* A.D. Gallery, UNC-Pembroke, Pembroke, NC, Jan-Ru Wan: Mixed-Media Artist
* Kinston Art Center, Kinston, NC
2008 * Guinan Gallery, The Art Institute of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, Dormant Thought
* Fine Arts Gallery, Seminole Community College, Sanford, FL
2007 * Grothaus Pearl Gallery, Kansas City, MO, Potent Thread
* Fayetteville Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC, Mending and Praying
2006 * University Gallery, Pittsburg State University, KS, Dormant Thought
* Louise Jones Brown Gallery, Duke University, NC, Red Houses
* Constance Gallery, Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa, Searching Red Houses
* Art Space NC, Raleigh, NC, Mending Anticipation
2005 * Derryberry Art Gallery at the Tennessee Tech University, Red Houses
* Debraratana Rajsuda, Burapa University, Conburi, Thailand, Contemplation in a Vigorous World
2004 * Sarratt Gallery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
SELECTED NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2021-22 * Invitational: “ The Shadow We Create”- raises questions about societal prescriptions, race, servitude, fear, and the consequences of not speaking through compelling works by artists Mary Bowron, Willie Cole, and Jan-Ru Wan, Cameron Art Museum, Sept. 2021-Jan 2022
* Invitational: A Common Thread, Textile past, present and future, The Arts Center of Greenwood, Greenwood SC, Nov 2020-Feb 2021
2019 * Coined of the South, Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC Oct 2019-Feb 2020
2018 * Greenhill Center for NC Art, Slow Art, Feb-April, Greensboro, NC
2016 * Art space NC, Raleigh, NC, 2nd place, Fresh
* Cary Art Center, Cary, NC, Separation
* Wilma W. Daniels Gallery, Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington, NC, We Got Issues: Visual Responses to Environmental Writing
2014 * “Yango”- Biennial Kinshasa, Congo
* Villa Terrace Decorative Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, Garden of Curious Delight
2012 * 7th International Fiber Art Exhibition, Nantong, China, From Lausanne to Beijing
* IFAA Art Platform, Belgium, “Celebrating a Culture of Cultures”,
* Casablanca, Morocco, 1st International Biennial of Casablanca
* Cameron Museum of Art, Out of Fashion
* Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Out of Fashion
2010 * 6th International Fiber Art Biennale, Heman Art Museum, China, From Beijing to Lausanne
* Green Hill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC, NCAC Artist Fellowship Exhibition
* New Culture Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Countertransference
2009 * Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, Frippery
* Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA, 17th Annual Juried Art Exhibition
* Art Space NC, Raleigh, NC, Juried Exhibition: Fine Contemporary Crafts Exhibition
Art and Culture Exhibition Hall, National Chengchi University, Taipei Taiwan, Contemporary Textile
2008 * Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA, String, Glass, Red Chili Peppers and More
* Selby Gallery, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL, Thread
* Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan, Pillow
2007 * New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, Group Exhibition
* Northwestern Mutual Art Gallery, Cardinal Stritch University, Frippery University of Regina, Regina, Canada,
* Cross Boundaries: Investigating the nexus of the arts, education and community”
* Museum of the Living Artists, San Diego, CA, SDAI 49th International Exhibition
* Greenhill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC, Textile Monuments
* Asian American Arts Center, New York City, NY, Fractured Fairy Tales
2006 * Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC, Weaving
* Joie Lassister Gallery, Charlotte, NC, High Fiber: Transforming Materials
* Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Hollins University, Red Beans and Rice
* Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA, Crossing Boundaries/Maintaining Tradition
* Harper Center Gallery, Presbyterian College, SC, Red Beans and Rice: Asian Artists in the New South
2005 * Kaunas Art Biennial, International Textile Competition, Textile 05
* Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA, Red Beans and Rice
* Apex Gallery, Washington DC, A Tribute to Fiber Art
* The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, Asheville, NC, Crossing Boundaries
* Fayetteville Museum of Art, Fayetteville, NC, Thirty-Third Annual Competition for North Carolina
* Isabella Cannon Gallery, Elon University, Elon, North Carolina, Fabulous Fiber 2005
2004 * Isabella Cannon Gallery, Elon University, Elon, NC, Fabulous Fiber 2004
* Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC, 2004 Emerging Artists Retrospective Exhibit
2003 * Green Hill Center, Greensboro, NC,
* Grand Arts at Green Hill: 23 of North Carolina’s most innovative artists
* Durham Art Guild, Durham, NC, September 11 Remembered
* International Textile and Apparel Association Conference, Sorrow of the Great Wall Wearable Art
PUBLICATIONS and REVIEWS:
2019 NPR Radio Interview : http://www.wunc.org/term/jan-ru-wan
2018 Triad City Beat Newspaper; “Exhibition Nudges Viewers into contemplative mode” by Lauren Barber 2/8
2016 Star News Online (Wilmington, NC), “Multi-Artist show at CFCC addresses environmental ‘issues’”, Justin Lacy, Jan. 21
2015 The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), “Cary art exhibit brings new life to old clothes,” Paul A. Specht, May 12
2012 Chapel Hill News, “Chapel Hill Community Art Project Uses Clothing To Tell Stories”, Deborah Meyer, May 10
2011 Sculpture Magazine, “A Magical Journey”, S. Portico Bowman, Vol. 30 No 7, p. 28-31
International Journal of the Arts in Society, “Convergence: a collaborative course linking Public Art and Education”, Jan-Ru Wan, Volume 5, Issue 1, pp.131-152.
2010 New Arts Program, Inc, “Jan-Ru Wan Installation Artist”
(Book Chapter) National Art Education Association Anthology: Globalization, Art, and Education,
“Jan Ru Wan: a Transcultural Journey” , Alice Arnold, A. Arnold, E. Delacruz, M. Parsons, & A. Kuo (eds.), Reston, VA: National Art Education Association
2009 Surface Design Journal, “String, Glass, Red Chili Peppers and More”, Peggy Whitney Hobbs, Vol. 33. No. 4, Summer
The Pine Needle (University of North Carolina at Pembroke), “A.D. Gallery holds first exhibition of fall”, Jon Baez, Sept. 17
2008 Honolulu Magazine, “Nice Threads-Put Some fiber in your diet with a citywide exhibition of wearable art and textile”, Lavonne Leong, September
2007 Up & Coming Weekly (Fayetteville, NC), “Students help behind the scenes at FMA” Soni Martin, Jan.30
Fayetteville Observer, “The fabric of contemplative art,” Melissa Clement, March 2
Surface Design Journal, “Textiles and Ritual”, JoAnn C. Stabb, Vol. 31, No. 3, p, 30-36, Spring
2006 Independent Weekly, “The power of thread: Jan-Ru Wan’s stunning fabric works embody Buddhist principles,” Michele Natale, Aug. 23