“Stefanie Jackson is a dreamer and a storyteller who envisions fictional worlds haunted by nightmarish realities, addressing issues regarding racial and political injustices, the erasure of African American histories, and social inequity and inequality in the United States.”- Rory Padeken, Vicki and Kent Logan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Denver Art Museum.

Jackson’s paintings draw on her life experience, having lived in Detroit, New York, New Orleans, Athens, Georgia and now Atlanta, Georgia. She is interested in how southern culture has influenced the North, especially the blues as a musical, literary, and visual phenomenon. Her artwork has responded to the Atlanta Race Riots of 1906, the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, Motown Detroit, issues of violence and neglect in urban environments, and the community of Hog’s Hammock, Sapelo Island, Georgia. Jackson draws inspiration from family tragedies, including losing her cousin to violence in Detroit, which is commemorated in Little Girl Blue in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Stefanie Jackson is an American painter whose art deals with themes of African American culture and contemporary issues. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she has lived for decades in the South, and her visual concepts reflect that dichotomy between north and south. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including Anonymous Was a Woman, the Pollock Krasner Foundation Award, the Georgia Council of the Arts Award, the Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts in recognition of her life’s dedication to art. Jackson’s work has been shown at the Georgia Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, and many other museums across the country. Her solo exhibition Pastime Paradise was shown at Richard Beavers Gallery in New York, Fall of 2022. She has studied in France, Italy, and attended several artist-in-residence programs.