Professor Jim Jeffers, Faculty, Web Art | UMass Lowell Art Department

Faculty > Jim Jeffers, Assistant Professor

“Speed up your machines for seeing, hearing, thinking, remembering and imagining. I'm not interested in sleep, only in waking. Get on with it quickly; take what you want and go. There's plenty to do outside. Skip chapters if you want to; begin where you like and read in any direction; this book is a multiple-use tool, like the knives campers use. ”

The Morning of the Magicians,
Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, 1960

“School came to bore me. It took up far too much time with which I would rather have spent drawing battles and playing with fire.”

Memories, dreams, reflections,
Carl Gustav Jung, 1961

Prof. Jim Jeffers attended the University of California - Santa Cruz, where he studied Physics and graduated with a B.A. in Art with emphasis in printmaking and drawing. Upon completion of his undergraduate course work, he attended New York University and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Studio Art with emphasis in sculpture and printmaking. Jim spent the better part of the next two years in Encinitas, CA (north of San Diego) cooking and making art. He earned his M.F.A. from Rutgers University in 2000, with emphasis in performance, video, and computer art.

Jim has taught Computer Art, 2-D Animation, Performance, Graphic Design, Alternative Approaches to Photography/Lens-based Art, Streaming Media, Video and Web-based Art and Design at numerous institutions including: Rutgers University, Drew University, Seton Hall University, and NYU. Before coming to UMass Lowell in 2005 as an Assistant Professor of Art and Design, and Head of the Web Art & Design area.

Jeffers exhibits and performs his work in the United States and internationally. Having five recent one-person exhibitions, two in 2005, one in 2007, 2009, and 2011: Sol Omnibus Lucet (the sun shines upon us all) at The Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA (2005); Short Trips at The Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ (2005); Metus Nihil (fear nothing) at Jean B. King Gallery, Herrett Center for Arts and Science, College of Southern Idaho (2007); Genii Loci (ghosts of protection) at the University Gallery, UMass Lowell (2009); and Jim Jeffers' Fortress of Multitude: project 52 for 2010—and other Fantabiographiesat MEME Gallery, Cambridge, MA (2011). Jeffers' performance work has been in public for over a decade with his "Superhero Actions" (and other performance iterations), as well as, performing in numerous pieces by other artists.

Since the early 21st century, Jim has maintained a presence in cyberspace with Fantabiography.com, a shifting blend of computer art, digital experiment, portfolio, and truthful lies. In 2007 Jeffers was a Co-Principal Investigator on a $421,000 National Science Foundation grant entitled, Performamatics: Connecting Computer Science to the Performing, Fine, and Design Arts, finding new ways to engage Computer Science students through the Arts. Jim is a member of SIGGRAPH of the Association for Computing Machinery, Rhizome, Arts Technology New England, Chairs the Board of Directors of 119 Gallery (Lowell, MA), and is a founding member and Treasurer of The New Media Caucus of the College Art Association. Jim lives in Lowell, MA, with his beautiful wife Jean, where he founded (with three other artists) Printer on Prescott Artist Studio Research Center in historic downtown Lowell where he works.