Whitney Johnson-Lessard, Held Within the Rocks and Dust

Whitney Johnson-Lessard is a Peoria, Illinois based visual artist. Through painting and participatory practices, her work places itself in multiple temporalities and prompts physical encounters. She explores perspectives in these spaces through ideas of futurity, dreams, transformation, and materiality. She received a BFA from Illinois State University, and an MFA in Art Theory and Practice from Northwestern University. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at the Block Museum of Art, the Peoria Art Guild, Coco Hunday, Figure One Gallery, the McLean County Art Center, and ICON Gallery. She has been awarded a number of grants, including an Arts Dollars Grant through the Arts Partners of Central Illinois, and a Creative Catalyst Grant to explore non-human light perception. Recently, she has participated in a residency program with Project 1612, and exhibited with the artist-run curatorial project Lease Agreement. She is a professor and is currently teaching drawing.