Chicago born artist and educator James Jankowiak’s current paintings and installation focuses on the role of color and familiar form as a means of communication in our day to day environment.
His emotive abstract paintings and public artworks explore the intersections between color perception, visual rhythm, spirituality and music.
Jankowiak has utilized his painting practice as a vehicle for social engagement with Chicago communities as a teaching artist embedded in Chicago Public Schools. Jankowiak integrates contemporary art into a social and emotional learning model for students and teachers
alike, using accessible, collaborative art practices, focusing on the process of making works in public spaces.
Jankowiak has been the recipient of several grants and special commissions, including permanent artwork for the Union Station Transit Center in the heart of Chicago, designing the entrance to The Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Family Youth Center, and most recently, completed “Our Collective Catalog”, a large scale painting installation in the West Lawn Chicago Public Library .
James Jankowiak 