Pottery Farm Gallery Summer Residency Submission
South of France
2025
JAELAH KUEHMICHEL
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
Jaelah Kuehmichel (she/they)
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
512.650.7726
Born
Marshfield, Wisconsin USA 1984
Education
BFA Painting Missouri State University 2007
Artist CV + Resume
Found below underneath the image portfolio
photo by Christine Alexander
Bio
Jaelah Kuehmichel is a queer interdisciplinary visual artist + designer whose whimsical and innovative works expand across mediums and styles to delight and inspire with a sense of endless curiosity, vivid uplifting colors, expressive abstraction + piercing social irony. Juxtapose thoughtful intentional control with expressive spontaneity and you get a sort of chaotic wisdom, a charming voice reflecting our times from the edges.
With influences from expressionism, mysticism, queer culture and high-end design Jaelah's abstract works dance, play and experiment in the realms between hard stylistic boundaries, not following any one rule for too long. Luxuriating in the juxtaposition of chaos pushed up against control, they birth a raw emotional spontaneity in tandem with a calculated choreography of line + space— a determined study with a delicious array of color you could just eat. All materials and objects are fair game.
Primarily a mixed-media painter she is currently making, exhibiting and selling new works from her home-studio-gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Since 2017 Jaelah has been working full-time with the wildly popular immersive arts company Meow Wolf. As a Principal Artist she has contributed numerous painted + graphic murals, large sculptures, immersive artworks + interactive designs in all 5 of Meow Wolf’s permanent exhibitions and can be viewed in their Meow Wolf portfolio.
Jaelah received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in Painting with minors in Art History + Psychology from Missouri State University in 2007. Because she learned to speak French during her 2.5 year service as a U.S. Peace Corps Community Health Education volunteer in a small village in Burkina Faso West Africa, Jaelah has a special interest in spending time in Southern France to strengthen her French language skills and immerse herself in the culture while deepening and expanding her artistic practice in the company of other supportive artists. Their experience as a queer androgynous person has instilled their art with the values of freedom + wild expression, a rebellion against being cornered or limited to one artistic medium or practice.
Selected Works
2015 - 2024
Land Line Can you hear me now?
Immersive Art Installation + Performance, an Experiential Solo Exhibition
Test Tube Gallery Austin, Texas USA
April 2015 + June 2016
2005 - 2014
ARTIST CV + RESUME
Jaelah Kuehmichel (she/they)
Current Employment
Principal Artist - Meow Wolf 2017 - 2025
Immersive Interactive Arts Design + Production | Santa Fe NM
Design + Production of original 3D + 2D art for large collaborative immersive art environments.
Travel for on-site installation to integrate sculptures and murals into final experience.
Immersive Art + Design
Mural + Sculpture Painting
Airbrush + Pneumatic Painting
Art Installation
Project Leadership
Hand-built Sculpture
Soft Sculpture + Sewing
Molds + Casting + Resin
Furniture + Upholstery
Rug Tufting
Concept Art + Graphic Illustration
Graphic Design + Vector Murals
Cross-Specialist Collaboration
Innovative Design Solutions
Diorama Art
Interactive Design
Photo/Video/Music Production
Fabrication + Laser Cutting
Polycarb + Vacuum Forming
MIG Welding
Educator
Teaching Artist - Early-Elementary Afterschool Arts Teacher at Creative Action, Austin TX | January 2015 - 2016
Community Health Education U. S. Peace Corps Volunteer - Burkina Faso, West Africa | 2007-2010
Life Drawing Instructor - Class for Adults at the Springfield Missouri Art Museum, Springfield MO | Spring 2007
Exhibitions
- SLUT POP Art Show @ Jaelah FAD w/ Sarah Turner Santa Fe NM | Dec 2024
- Art Show @ Jaelah FAD w/ Diego Rigales + BLAIR + Matthew Bradley + Tuscany Wenger Santa Fe NM | Nov 2023
- Art Show @ Jaelah FAD w/ Shakti Howeth + Matthew Bradley Santa Fe NM | Nov 2022
- Art Show @ Jaelah FAD Santa Fe NM | April 2022
- ARTBASH at pershing, Art Alliance Austin, Austin TX - 11 | 2016
- SHE International Art Exchange, LPM Gallery, Austin TX, London, & Vietnam - 07 | 2016
- 50 / 250, French & Michigan Gallery, San Antonio TX - 11 | 2015
- East Austin Studio Tour, Austin TX - 11 | 2015
- Art to the Power of Ten, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio TX - 09 | 2015
- Herradura Barrel Art Collection, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin TX - 07 | 2015
- Land Line, Solo Exhibition, Test Tube Gallery, Austin TX - 04 | 2015
- OUTsider Festival Art Bazaar, Austin TX - 02 | 2015
- After Some Reflection, grayDUCK Gallery, Austin TX - 01 | 2015
- Group Exhibition, Big Ass Canvas Gallery, Austin TX - Winter | 2015
- Practice, French & Michigan Gallery, San Antonio TX - 12 | 2014
- East Austin Studio Tour, Austin TX - 11 | 2014
- Herradura Barrel Art Competition, 3rd Place, Austin TX - 10 | 2014
- Art to the Power of Ten, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio TX - 09 | 2014
- Amalgam, Little Pink Monster Gallery, Austin TX - 09 | 2014
- I AM A BODY, Penjulum Collective, Movement Video Screening, Austin TX - 09 | 2014
- 5 x 7 Show- The Contemporary, Austin TX - 04 | 2014
- People's Gallery 2014 Exhibition, Austin City Hall, Austin TX - 2014
- Beauty Matters, Chautauqua National Juried Exhibition, EKU, Richmond KY - 01 | 2014
- 50 x 250, French & Michigan Gallery, San Antonio TX - 12 | 2013
- East Austin Studio Tour Studio, Austin TX - 11 | 2013
- Grand Opening Exhibition, French & Michigan Gallery, San Antonio TX - 11 | 2013
- Finders Makers Part I, Museum of Human Achievement, Austin TX - 07 | 2013
- BYOBeard, Pump Project, Urban Skep, Austin TX - 06 | 2013
- Canopy Artist Studio Tour, Canopy Art Complex, Austin TX - 05 | 2013
- West Austin Studio Tour, Austin Public Library Recycled Reads, Austin TX - 04 | 2013
- Art Erotica, Octopus Project, Austin TX - 04 | 2013
- 5 x 7 Show, Arthouse-AMOA, Austin TX - 04 | 2013
- Small Works, 36th Harper College National Art Exhibition, Palatine IL - 03 | 2013
- SXSW 2013 Pavilion Gallery, Austin TX - 03 | 2013
- Group Hug Exhibition, Eye’s Got It, Pump Project Flex Gallery,
- People's Gallery 2013 Exhibition, Austin City Hall
- East Austin Studio Tour, Studio #30, Austin TX - 11 | 2012
- Blurred Lines, Austin Series Vol. 2- Black Lagoon Gallery,
- 5 x 7 Show- Arthouse-AMOA, Austin TX - 04 | 2012
- 5 x 7 Show- Arthouse, Austin TX - 04 | 2011
- MSU BFA Senior Exhibition, Springfield MO - 05 | 2007
- The Female in All Her Forms- Good Girl Art Gallery, Springfield MO - 04 | 2007
- Emerging Artist- Taft Art Attack Gallery, Springfield MO - 01 | 2007
- Emerging Artist- Graif Design Inc., Springfield MO - 06 | 2006
- Emerging Artists- Park Central Gallery, Springfield MO - 09 | 2006
- Group Show- Sun Light Gallery, Springfield MO - Winter 2004
- MSU Foundations Exhibition- Student Exhibition Center, Springfield MO - 10 | 2003
Performances | Installations | Happenings
ARTBASH Land Line performative installation by JaelahFAD
Group exhibition curated by Art Alliance Austin, The Pershing, Austin TX
Nov 11, 2016
SEW WASTED Dada-inspired fashion show pairing visual artists & dancers curated by Los Outsiders
JaelahFAD designs performed by Jason Phelps & Margery Segal
Fusebox Performance Art Festival, Mexican American Cultural Center, Austin TX
April 9, 2016
LAND LINE An immersive experiential multidisciplinary solo exhibition and performance by JaelahFAD
Test Tube Gallery | Austin TX April-May 2015 premiere
Pop-Up Gallery | Austin TX June 2016
60-IN-SIXTY 60 artists each performing for 60 seconds
Fusebox Festival Fundraiser | Austin TX
July 9, 2015
RE-BIRTH Witnessing Gestation a performative installation directed by Jillayne Hunter
produced by the House of ia
Unofficial Fusebox Festival | Tillery Park | Austin TX
April 27, 2014
DEATH A Funeral Happening by JaelahFAD
Unofficial Fusebox Festival | Home of the artist | Austin, TX
April 25, 2014
SQUART Spontaneous Queer Art created by Larry/Laura Arrington, produced by the House of ia,
Official Fusebox Festival | The ND | Austin TX
April 23, 2014
TENT TIME Interactive Time-Based Installation by JaelahFAD in the artist's studio
Austin TX
Winter 2013-14
Presentations
Use & Interpretation of Color | Art After 6, Austin City Hall, Austin TX July 12, 2013
Press & Publications
- "Land Line with Jaelah Kuehmichel" Zimmerhanzel, Kathryn | Frenchandmichigan.com Apr 2015
- "After Some Reflection at Grayduck Gallery, Austin" McCollom, Caitlin | Glasstire.com Jan 23, 2015
- "Indefinite Forms" Zimmerhanzel, Katherine | FrenchAndMichigan.com Feb 2015
- "Studio Visit Vol. 28" The Open Studios Press, print edition 2014
- "East Austin Studio Tour 2013" Linares, Marleen | Glasstire.com Nov 26, 2013
- "Prepping for Studio Tour" Martinez, Alberto | Austin American Statesman Nov 15, 2013
- "9 Masterful Mixed Media Artworks" Caird, Beth | Blog.redbubble.com Oct 18, 2013
- "Going WEST in Austin" Irwin, Matthew | Hyperallergic.com May 1, 2013
- “Emerging Artist of the Month,” Downtown NOW Magazine, Springfield, MO May, 2006
Awards
- 3rd Place, Tequila Herradura Barrel Art Competition- Austin, 2014
- Juror’s Award, Andrea Keys Connel, Beauty Matters, Chautauqua National Juried Exhibition, EKU, 2014
- Mayme C. Hamilton Memorial Art & Design Scholarship, MSU, 2006
- Eric Sidney Memorial Art & Design Scholarship, MSU, 2006
Languages
Native English Speaker
Intermediate French
