Juror Profile: Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers

The juror for the upcoming Anderson Artists Guild membership show is Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers.

A Virginia native, she grew up in Clemson, where her dad was a professor. Her interest in art was apparent at a young age. When a drawing she did for a school assignment in fourth grade received positive feedback, her parents found a private art instructor who tutored Mitchell-Rogers through high school. “It was a tremendous foundation,” she said.

She has a BFA in painting and drawing from the University of Georgia (UGA), an MFA in painting and drawing from Clemson University, and a Ph.D. in art education from UGA. She has been employed at Anderson University for 35 years, serving as a professor of art and as the associate dean of the School of the Arts.

She is also committed to her studio practice. She paints lately in acrylics and pastels and also is drawn to drawing, photography, and mixed media. In her figurative work, she said, “I’m very interested in storytelling, of the narrative within a work.” And color, she said, is key. A series she has been working on, called Lost Ones, uses vintage family photos to reflect on loss.

Her work has been included in over 200 invitational solo and group exhibitions, over 75 juried shows, and is included in numerous private collections throughout the country and abroad. Recent notable exhibitions include the Museum of Design Atlanta and the SVA Chelsea Gallery in New York City.

She has a lot of experience as a juror, too. The process, she said, involves being open minded. “I make a concerted effort to distance myself from my preferences, to be fair to the full range of works,” she said. “I’m looking for honesty, real work. I can tell if an individual is following their own path and making work because they need to.”

For more information about Mitchell-Rogers, visit https://www.jocarol.net/.