CV — Jillian Downs

Born in Riverside, CA, 1991
Lives and works in Grass Valley, CA
Education:
2022 California State University Long Beach - Long Beach, CA
Single-Subject Teaching Credential — Art classes organized primarily for adults, Grades 12 and below, including preschool.
2018 University of California Los Angeles — Los Angeles, CA
Bachelor of Art | GPA: 3.65
Bachelor of Art History | GPA: 3.65
2015 Sierra College — Rocklin, CA
Associate of Art History for Transfer | GPA: 3.48
2009 Nevada Union High School — Grass Valley, CA
Work Experience:
2023-present Ceramics Teacher at Nevada Union High School — Grass Valley, CA
Supporting public high school students through planning artwork, executing skills, and finalizing art particular to the medium of ceramics. Delivering instruction through many learning modalities; Visual powerpoint demonstrations accompanied by auditory lectures, reading and writing Artist Statements, and Kinesthetic activities utilizing interdisciplinary strategies to teach traditional Fine Art Ceramic Sculpture.
2022-present Visual Art Department Chair at Nevada Union High School— Grass Valley, CA
Responsible for overviewing the Art Department curriculum, interview new hires, settle faculty and student disputes, and oversee research in the Professional Learning Community.
2020-23 Photography Teacher at Nevada Union High School— Grass Valley, CA
Responsible for teaching concepts related to digital and analog B&W Photography to public high school students.
2018-20 Lab Technician Sculpture at Otis College of Art and Design — Los Angeles, CA
Supporting students through the early stages of drawing design; leading students through the fabrication and completion of their artworks. Organizing and providing public demonstrations for faculty, staff, and students, in concepts relating to welding, woodworking, and other materials. Responsible for the maintenance and operation of machinery, shop equipment, and tools and provide Product Fabrication assistance. Trained in the safe handling, and storing, of compressed gas cylinders. Responsible for inventorying of equipment and enforcing safety policies and protocols.
2018 Art Instructor at Mission: Renaissance Fine Art Classes — Pasadena, CA
Teaching the basics of sketching in charcoal, pastel, and watercolor to young artists.
2015-2018 Career Break — Los Angeles, CA
Pursued Bachelor Degrees in, both, Interdisciplinary Art and Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles
2012-15 Instructional Assistant in Art at Sierra College — Grass Valley, CA
Supporting the faculty in ceramics and sculpture classes. Organizing and maintaining the photography, drawing & painting, ceramics, and sculpture lab; mixing clay and understanding glaze chemistry, as well as monitoring the Mac computer lab; assisting students with concepts related to Adobe Creative Suite.
Community Involvement:
2022-2023 Union Representative at Nevada Joint Union High School Teachers Association — Grass Valley, CA
Protect and promote the well-being of 165+ members and +2,000 students. Through building trust, clear communication, proactive involvement in our schools and community, along with responding to members’ rights, needs, and concerns, NJUHSTA serves as a local voice for public education.
2019-present Administrator, Buy Nothing Project — Grass Valley, CA
Upholding the values of, while promoting, a community-oriented hyper-localized economy.
2019-2020 Staff Council Executive Committee Member, Otis College of Art and Design — Los Angeles, CA
Providing a high level of expertise in technical support of the College mission, its community, strategic goals, compliance needs, and well-informed institutional decision-making.
2019-20 Resource Exchange Specialist, Otis College of Art and Design — Los Angeles, CA
Promoting the organization of a free resource economy: Stock located in a storage container on campus.
2018-19 Theater-Set Production Painter Assistant — Grass Valley, CA
Supporting artist Gwyn Stramler with a 6’x10’ illustration for the theater set of Mary Brave Eyes; produced by Karen Sharp. This anti-bullying /racism awareness performance piece toured eight middle schools in Northern California.
Education Related Experience:
2018 UCLA Independent Study with photographer Catherine Opie with emphasis on interdisciplinary strategies ranging from hand-built ceramic production, sculpture, and photography.
2017 UCLA Independent Study with ceramicist Adrian Saxe with emphasis on low-fire ceramic production, underglaze pottery, as well as slip-cast mold making.
2015 Sierra College Independent study with Dick Hotchkiss, and Sam Tubiolo, with emphasis on Raku firing, public works that connects a community, and locally-sourced minerals & materials for glazes: Digging clay from the local area.
2009-2023 Nevada Union High School Independent study with John Slavonic with emphasis on Cone 10 reduction firing, spray-glazing, and portable-kiln firing.
Related Skills:
Title IX | Tig and Mig Welding | Cuttlefish bone casting | Oxy-Acetylene | Large and medium format film processing | Cyanotype printing | Photographic darkroom safety and protocols | Woodworking | Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) | Ceramic kiln firing processes and maintenance | Reduction firing | Raku | CPR | CBEST | Saw maintenance and repair (Grizzly, Sawstop, Felder, Dake) | Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) | Adobe Creative Suite (Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere) | Drawing and Painting | Public Speaking | Academic Writing | Active Shooter Training | Hydraulic equipment maintenance (metal shear and bender) | Mill and Lathe | Plasma cutting | Mold-making in ceramics, metals (silver and bronze), and plastics (resin) | Work study management | WebCheckout | SketchUp

Selected Exhibitions

2024 Carnival Lights and Treat Street Delights — Grass Valley, CA
A quilt exhibition that survey’s artwork and collectibles by local Nevada County residents. This exhibitor is an intermediate quilter in the vest and jacket division.

2023 (through August 13th) County Roots and Cowboy Boots at the Nevada County Fairgrounds — Grass Valley, CA
A quilt exhibition that survey’s artwork and collectibles by local Nevada County residents. This exhibitor has two years quilting experience or less. Class work may be submitted in this division.

2022 (through June 25th) Irrelevant Press & Friends: An Irrelevant Experience, Aggregate Space Gallery — Oakland, CA
A recollective that surveys the linkage with those Irrelevant Press creates with. In this exhibition, artists from the Bay Area and beyond explore an ethos of connectedness, belonging, and identity. “Friends” also represents an interpretation that betters the community and its locality.

2019 ARTSST Exhibition: Group Show, The Helen and Abraham Bolsky Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
A gathering of various practices, interests, and pursuits all done by Otis Technical Support Staff

2018 Are you Ready to Rock, New Wight Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
Student curated show for the exhibition of graduating seniors at UCLA

2017 Downs | West Projects: Group Show, Akashic Visions Gallery - Nevada City, CA
A joint venture between visual artists and technologists working in analog media and Virtual Reality.

2017 Denominator: Group Show, Center for the Arts - Grass Valley, CA
The show was select current and former Sierra College Art Department students who were Art majors in various colleges; curated by John Baca

PRESS

2020 Inspiring Stories, VoyageLA

2019 "Anaphora," zine, Irrelevant Press