Jill Downen

Jill Downen is an Associate Professor and Chair of Sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute. Their work explores the intersection of sculpture, the human body, and architecture, challenging perceptions of truth and space. Downen holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis as a Danforth Scholar.

• Affiliations: Chair of Sculpture (Kansas City Art Institute), represented by Bruno David Gallery (St. Louis)
• Residencies: MASS MoCA, MacDowell Colony, Cité International des Arts (Paris)

Research focuses on the symbiotic relationship between body and built environment, using materials like concrete, plaster, and lapis lazuli. Key themes include plumb line symbolism, phenomenological space, and post-truth culture. Major installations include Architectural Folly from a Future Place (2018, Kansas City) and (dis)Mantle (2010, St. Louis).

Awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship, Charlotte Street Foundation Award, and Santo Foundation Grant. Current projects explore 'places for reflection' addressing contemporary cultural fragmentation through site-specific installations.

• Grants: Kemper Charitable Trust (Swope Park installation), international Santo Foundation grant
• Publications: Catalogues from Bruno David Gallery with essays by Ivy Cooper, Andrea Ferber, and others