Associate Professor of Digital Media & Animation
Biography
Jessye McDowell is a Baltimore-based artist and educator whose studio practice examines the interchanges of cultural mythologies, lived experience and the digital world. Her work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and in Europe, including recent solo shows at Unrequited Leisure (Nashville, TN) and Sonoma State University (CA), and recent group exhibitions at Lump Gallery (Raleigh, NC), Well Well Projects (Portland, OR), and the SPRING/BREAK Art Fair (NYC). Recent artist residencies include the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony (Woodstock, NY), the Wassaic Artist Residency (Wassaic, NY), and the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT). McDowell received an MA in Media Studies from the New School University in NYC, and an MFA from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She served as the President of the New Media Caucus from 2020-2023, and is currently an Associate Professor of Digital Art & Animation at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Areas of Research Specialization
- 3D Modeling
- Animation
- Media Studies
Areas of Teaching Specialization
- Digital Art
- Animation
- Digital Fabrication
- Video Art & Production
Internal Affiliations
External Affiliations
Education
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B.A. in English at DePaul University,
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M.A. in Media Studies at The New School University,
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M.F.A in Studio Art at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
Awards
- Haliaeetus leucocephalus Professor in Art, 2023-2025
The Pandion haliaetus/Haliaeetus leucocephalus Professorship is a two-year professorship presented to junior faculty who have been employed by SMCM for three to 10 years and who are exemplary teacher-scholars within their academic program areas. These honorees exceed standards in teaching and/or their scholarship/creative endeavor and at minimum meet standards for the other. These individuals are also good citizens of the campus community.
Spotlight
- Short Film "Unparalleled" included in the Video Art & Experimental Film Festival (VAEFF) 2025, NYC
November 14-16, Cinema Village, NYC
"Something is Wrong. Very Wrong." program, Sunday, November 16 @ 7-9 pm
- Panel Chair, "Myth, Magic and Memory: Cultural Narratives of Technology" @ SECAC 2025
"Myth, Magic and Memory: Cultural Narratives of Technology"
Image left: Justin Gallant, “Post-Reality and the Flux of Temporal Fantasms”
Image right: Eric Millikin, “he had found an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus.” Necrobotics, live code, artificial intelligence, electronics, motors, light, sound, oyster shells collected from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area
