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

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) making art and cooking for his mother. 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, and Web-based Art and Design at numerous institutions including: Rutgers University; Drew University; Seton Hall University; and NYU, just to name a few.

He exhibits and performs his work in the United States and internationally. Having three recent one-person exhibitions, two in 2005, and one in 2007: 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); and Metus Nihil (fear nothing) at Jean B. King Gallery, Herrett Center for Arts and Science , College of Southern Idaho (2007). 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 digital / computer art, artist portfolio, and truthful lies. In 2007 Jeffers was a Co-Principal Investigator on a $365,000 National Science Foundation grant entitled, Performamatics: Connecting Computer Science to the Performing, Fine, and Design Arts, for finding new ways to engage Computer Science students through the Arts. Jim is a member of SIGGRAPH of the Association for Computing Machinery, and a founding member of The New Media Caucus of the College Art Association. Jim lives in Lowell, MA, with his beautiful wife Jean, and works where he can.