Jackie Brown ’04 is a working artist who earned a master’s of fine arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts and is an assistant professor of art in sculpture at Bowdoin College. She works in drawing and sculptural installation.
Her art major from Hamilton College, she says, helped provide the foundation for her studio practice and career. Brown minored in anthropology and took a range of courses from discrete mathematics to Islamic thought, and it all informed her work.
“That’s what is great about pursuing art within a liberal arts context. I had so much fodder from my other courses, and I could bring those interests into my creative work,” Brown says.
In 2009, she filled in at Hamilton for a professor on sabbatical. She says Hamilton faculty members clearly are invested in the program and in students, which is evident in the senior experience and visiting artists program. The art major provides a framework that allows a student to take risks and experiment, Brown says.
“If you’re willing to put yourself out there, and you’re open to critical feedback, then you can really maximize the experience,” she says.
