Jane Waggoner Deschner

“By skillfully combining anonymous vernacular photography and quotes by famous personages, Ms. Deschner has created embroidered works of art which are clever, fun, and unique. This is an artist well worth watching.”
– Robert E. Jackson, whose collection was the subject of an exhibition and and catalog at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, The Art of the American Snapshot, 1888-1978.

[wptabs type=”accordion”][wptabtitle]Biography[/wptabtitle][wptabcontent] Jane Waggoner Deschner grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, moving to Montana in 1977. She earned degrees in geography at the University of Kansas and, later, in art at Montana State University–Billings (BA) and Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA). She exhibits actively with recent solo shows in Kansas, Missouri, Nevada and Montana. Her work was included in the new book, Humor in Craft, by Brigitte Martin, released in May 2012. Her embroidered found photographs were the subject of a feature article, “Deduction, Speculation, and Fantasy,” in Fiberarts magazine, September/October 2010. She has been featured on numerous blogs including Hand/Eye, American Craft magazine’s Why I Make, House of Mirth, mr x stitch, Accidental Mysteries and Hand Embroidery Network.

She has been awarded residencies/fellowships at Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY: The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, CA; Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM; Virginia Center for Creative Arts (including a LEAW Foundation Grant), Amherst, VA; Jentel Foundation, Banner, WY; Kimmell•Harding•Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE; and Ragdale Foundation, Chicago, IL. Fall 2010 she was a visiting artist at Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta. Since May 2008 she has served as a Governor’s appointee to the Montana Arts Council.

Her work is in the collections of Federal Reserve Banks in Minneapolis, MN, and Helena, MT; Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT; University of Montana; Montana State University–Billings Foundation; Yellowstone Public Radio; Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY; Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT; and collectors and artists across the US and in South Korea. She is represented by Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Yellowstone Art Museum Consignment Gallery, Billings, Montana. In addition to being an artist, she works as an exhibition installer, graphic designer, photographer and picture framer.[/wptabcontent][/wptabs]