Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Bergman Night.
Hi Jessica Bergman , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up always making things and naturally fell into making a lot of art. I was lucky enough to go to a highschool with a very strong arts program at the time and encountered some wonderful instructors and fellow student artists and was able to create a mural at the school that is still there today some 25 years later! I also did some murals freelance at the time and saved my money to take some summer courses for youth in 2D and 3D arts.
Following High School I initially went to school to be a k-12 arts teacher but decided to take a break for life which I am glad I did. When I returned to college in my mid twenties I knew I wanted to focus on the arts as a creator. I completed two full degrees Summa Cum Laude from the University of MN TC (Studio Arts and Art History). I had my first child about 10 days following graduation and it was important to me to stay active creating so I returned to the U, with the support of Professor Wayne Potratz, in the foundry department working as a TA, or just taking 1 credit to continue to stay active and retain access to equipment to create work. It was in this period that I purchased my home through the City of Lakes Community Land Trust and moved to the Bancroft neighborhood of South Minneapolis. Also in this period I crossed paths in the UMN Foundry with some folks who were involved in the brand new Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC) at 38th and Chicago.
After this lucky meeting I shifted my creative hub to CAFAC and worked first as a volunteer building their foundry program, running their gallery briefly, and manageing their volunteer program. Soon afterwards I began to instruct foundry and later as they had capacity to bring on staff I was able to join staff as the resource coordinator, continuing to run the volunteer program and also to provide shop maintenance support. I only recently made the incredibly difficult decision to step away from that staff roll as my life circumstances now include a blended family with 6 children ranging in ages from 17 to 2 and I didn’t feel I had capacity to continue in the same roles I had been filling. I still call CAFAC my creative home, I now instruct in foundry, jewelry, enamel, blacksmithing, welding, and encaustic having learned so much in that wonderful space. I encourage anyone interested in the fire arts to check it out!
Along the way I also became interested in public art and was able to take some wonderful trainings and receive some grant funding to support the development of that track in my career. I am on the Springboard for the Arts ReadyGo Art Tools roster and provide community engagment public art experiences through that program. I am an approved performer for my creative workshops for SELCO and soon will be found on the COMPAS for the Arts Roster as well.
I also create work from jewelry scale to public art as part of my personal creative practice. Although I have less time than I would love to have for this part of my career, I know as my children get older I will be able to dedicate more to that part of my work.
That pretty much brings us to the current day for my arts career!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think that any career that is self driven or self created will and does have struggles along the way, there ins’t a road map on how to sustain yourself in the arts and everyone who is in that world has different skillsets that will come into play. I count myself as extremely grateful for the opportunity to be where I am, even though it is really challenging at times. I have learned though that if you have clarity for where you want to be there are many usually opportunities that will arise that help to shape and move you along your path.
For me there are many specific times in life where I have been able to be brave enough to take opportunities that have lead me in directions that I may not have anticipated but that have been so beneficial in ways I couldn’t have predicted.
I have had my fair share of struggles in my personal life and in the communities I call home, and I have grown from each of them, although they have been so hard at times. However, I don’t think I would be where I am without having lived through them all.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create works in many mediums exploring the bizarre, magical, and wondrously common experiences in life. My work often utilizes ancient techniques in contemporary ways and spans from community engagement to commissions to the creation of art objects and experiential spaces.
One of my most important and rewarding roles as an artist is the opportunity to make creating more accessible to anyone with the desire to do so through my instructional and engagement work.
I am most proud of the works, partnerships, and projects I have created or co-created that have challenged me either creatively, through technical execution, or through challenging and multilayered collaborative dynamics.
I think what sets me apart from others is my communication skills and ability in finding solutions even when the road looks bumpy and the end isn’t quite in sight yet.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Sometimes the list of tasks, project, or vision is so big it can feel impossible, at those times just take one step, one foot of the other, and even the hardest work will get done. I have a personal motto in work and in motherhood that I didn’t make up but rings so true and that is that the days are long but the years are short. This type of work is hard, physically, mentally, it is hard to keep your work/life balance, its all hard, but what a gift to get to actually do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jessbnight.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/im_a_tourist_here/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.bergman.night/
- Other: cafac.org and https://readygoart.com/tools/pedal-to-the-metal/
