Jenny Kendler: Key Notes for Quick Review

Background and Context

Jenny Kendler is an interdisciplinary artist, environmental activist, naturalist, and wild forager who operates from Chicago and connects with forests elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She helps run the artist residency ACRE and the art research activism initiative Deep Time Chicago, and she was the first artist in residence with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The conversation centers on protected knowledge, imposter syndrome, building community, online platforms, and sustainable artistic practice.

Early Life, Family, and Call to Art

Artmaking runs in Kendler’s family, and she describes a genetic predisposition toward image-making. Her parents, scientists in medicine, were supportive of her artistic path, which she began pursuing early on. She often reflects on how environmental and naturalist interests shaped her work, and she acknowledges the influence of growing up with supportive mentors and access to art education.

Education and Critical Experiences in School

Kendler attended the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) for undergrad in a General Fine Arts program, which allowed breadth across media. She earned an MFA later at SAIC. She critiques her formal education for not adequately preparing artists for the “real world,” noting that professional development offerings were often taught by people without real-world experience in the art market. She cites gendered and hierarchical critiques, and she notes that earlier eras viewed work on animals and nature as unserious, which influenced her sense of belonging and persistence.

Career Path, Independence, and the Pivot to Entrepreneurship

After school, Kendler emphasized practical survival and autonomy over following a single traditional path. She co-founded Other People’s Pixels (OPP) around 2004–2005 with her partner, Brian Kirkbride, to address a critical need: affordable, easily updateable online portfolios for artists. Before platforms like Instagram, artists needed costly or brittle web setups; OPP offered a pragmatic, artist-centered solution and a way to escape the conventional “nine-to-five” grind while sustaining creative work. The venture grew from a problem-solving mindset and a desire to support artists’ ability to present work online.

Other People’s Pixels (OPP): Platform, Purpose, and Growth

OPP provided a targeted web platform for fine artists to create and manage their own sites, analogous to Squarespace but designed for artists with budgets in mind. The motivation was to democratize visibility and reduce the friction and expense of maintaining an online portfolio. Kendler and Kirkbride explicitly built OPP to avoid the typical constraints of the commercial art web, recognizing that many artists could not afford traditional design work or ongoing updates. The business model evolved as they learned what artists needed to present their work effectively and accessibly.

Funding, Grants, and Public Art as Economic Pathways

Kendler discusses balancing art-making with economic realities. For her, revenue often comes through public art budgets, museum projects, and grants tied to specific projects or exhibitions, rather than open-ended funding for an artist’s practice. She highlights the distinction between grants (often project-specific) and public art money (since a commission funds the project itself). A notable example is a Mellon Foundation grant of 140{,}000, where only a portion supported the artistic component. She also mentions that climate-focused or political art frequently faces market fragility, making a diversified strategy essential.

Community, Professionalism, and Collaboration

A core theme is finding and sustaining a community of peers and collaborators. Kendler emphasizes being reliable, communicative, and easy to work with as crucial to securing opportunities with large institutions and galleries. She argues against the solitary “artist-genius” myth, underscoring that large-scale projects rely on teams, partners, and respectful collaborations. Building networks through residencies, museums, and fellow creatives is presented as a practical path to opportunities.

Defining Success: Audience, Impact, and Realization

For Kendler, success is not limited to prestigious museum shows or high-priced sales. Instead, it centers on producing work that reaches people and advances environmental justice, even if the work is accessible in informal venues like apartment galleries or farmers’ markets. She seeks to ensure her projects realize their intended impact and remain authentic, with a broader aim of provoking social change. Institutional accolades matter less than meaningful public engagement and ethical, fully realized art.

Imposter Syndrome, Real-World Preparation, and Advice for Students

The discussion touches on imposter syndrome and the sense that one’s path is not universal. Kendler cautions against assuming one must follow a single route (e.g., blue-chip gallery success or expensive formal training) to be successful. She stresses practical survival strategies, the importance of community, and the need to understand the funding landscape. Her guidance to younger artists includes starting small, building a network, delivering on commitments, and prioritizing work that aligns with one’s values and ethical commitments.

Final Takeaways for Quick Recall

• Art careers are sustainable through multiple pathways beyond a single “success story.” Community, collaboration, and practical fundraising strategies are essential. 2002 (undergrad) and 2006 (grad) mark key education milestones, while 02/2004-05 marks the start of OPP.
• Protected knowledge and imposter syndrome are common; open dialogue about funding and process helps demystify the ecosystem.
• Public art budgets, museum funding, and targeted grants are viable sources for environment-centered work; climate-focused art can be less commercially navigable, so diversification is valuable.
• The most durable success is authentic, widely accessible work that communicates to an audience and can drive social impact, rather than chasing a single “glamorous” career path.