Artist’s Profile – Arts Gowanus

Studio Street Address:: Brooklyn Neighborhood Arts Studios / 540 President St

Artist Statement: Arielle Jennings is a 2014 RISD graduate, art educator, freelance illustrator, and native of Brooklyn, NY. She currently works as Student Program Manager at Exploring the Arts. She was a former Staff Illustrator at Ramona Magazine for Girls. Arielle is adept at creating illustrations, both digitally and traditionally. The majority of her artwork centers around strong female characters and portraiture. Arielle's goal within her artwork is to show that Black and Brown women are multifaceted individuals that are not only “angry” or “loud”. She purposely brings Black and Brown women to the forefront in her illustrations to combat the notion that they are "other”. A large amount of her work circles around the idea of portraiture. Within portraits, she is able to focus solely on the characteristics of Black women she is illustrating and humanize them. She uses various colored strokes and scratched designs within her claybord illustrations to draw the importance of traditional African American quilting.

Portfolio Images