TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Jay Shinn’s geometric installations use color and light to transform flat walls into dimensional experiences.
Monarch
Star Bright
J ay Shinn was born in the small town of Magnolia, Arkansas, and grew up in a large family. As a young boy, he often accompanied his father to his job, where his dad oversaw the construction sites of new motels. Watching his father work inspired his childhood plans for the future. “For most of my childhood, I thought I would become an architect, because I didn’t see a clear path to being an artist. But I always came back to drawing and painting,” he recalls. At seven, Shinn enrolled in Marjorie’s House of Artists, a staple of Magnolia. There, he became familiar with various mediums of art, including painting, drawing, and sculpture. “Marjorie would enter us in art shows around the area in places like El Dorado, Texarkana, and Shreveport. I found the Spring Lake Park art exhibitions to be inspiring because you could win a prize and meet other artists.” While Shinn got along well with many kids, he didn’t always beat to the same drum. “Unlike my schoolmates, one of my favorite things to do was to be dropped off in Texarkana at Stanhope’s Art Supplies, where I would spend hours perusing the aisles and dreaming up my next creation.” Magnolia, being the home of Southern Arkansas University, has a unique fine arts prevalence, so by ninth grade, Shinn was auditing art classes. He eventually attended a five-week art camp at the University of Kansas, where he got the itch to spread his wings. The true turning point came during the summer of his sophomore year in college, when he applied for the artist residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Founded in 1947, the program in Skowhegan, Maine, selects 65 emerging artists each year for an intensive nine-week summer session. “The Skowhegan program had ties to major museums and gave me a broader vision of what my future could be. For the first time, I could see a career path as a working artist rather than an art educator.”
Sun Canopy
When you experience Shinn’s art, his childhood influences are obvious. “Having grown up around my father’s creative process for planning and building motels, I watched him draw on paper and was able to imagine his projects coming to life. To this day, most of my pieces begin in the exact same way.” Another nod to his past is the way he incorporates a wide range of mediums. “I’ve always been open to trying new materials and using whatever I have available to me.”
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COMMUNITY & CULTURE
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