Jenie Gao is a full-time artist, creative director, and entrepreneur. She runs an anti-gentrification arts business, specializing in public art, printmaking, social practice, and storytelling. She consults for cultural organizations and the public sector on equity and ethics.

Jenie pulls from personal and professional experiences as a second generation Taiwanese-Chinese American, woman of color, and descendant of working class immigrants. Prior to founding their business, Jenie worked in the museum industry, public education, and manufacturing sectors. Through their cross section of experiences, Jenie has become attuned to issues of artists’ labor, cultural power, and institutional accountability. She runs a paid apprenticeship program and has thus far mentored 25 emerging artists.She has hired and mentored 25 paid interns and apprentices through her apprenticeship program at Jenie Gao Studio. Until 2021, they ran a 1,700 square foot art studio in Teejop (Madison, Wisconsin) until summer 2021 when they relocated to Vancouver, BC, Canada, to develop a body of MFA work and research on artists' ethics and institutional accountability.

Jenie has a BFA in Printmaking/Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Jenie’s work has been exhibited, collected, and published in the US, Canada, UK, Argentina, Denmark, Germany, and more. Her recent solo shows have been at Museum of Wisconsin Art, Diane Endres Ballweg Gallery, and UW Whitewater’s Crossman Gallery. Jenie's work has been featured on platforms including PBS, Fête Chinoise, and Shoutout LA. She is a TEDx Madison speaker and former artist-in-residence at Proyecto’ace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Museo de Arte Moderno in Chile; Iowa Lakeside Laboratory; the Bubbler at Madison Public Library; and Artist Campaign School with Fractured Atlas.

Connect with me