Based in rural, west-central Illinois, Jason Ackman is an artist and educator best known for his sculptures and installations made from used construction lumber, brick, and other discarded building materials. Over the past decade, Ackman has been creating contemplative works that, while composed of evocative and familiar forms, elude specific or singular interpretations. These works with their clearly visible construction methods are based on concepts of transition and discernment and are often painted in shades of black, white, and gray or left in their natural unadorned state.
The repetition and combination of forms and materials are salient features of Ackman’s sculptures and installations. By continually recycling, modifying, and creating new arrangements of favored configurations and objects—columns, gantries, chairs, and architectural elements —Ackman expands the limits of this decade-long search to understand our place in a global society constructed of man-made boundaries.
During the summer months, when he is not in the studio, he and his wife Christy co-direct the Farwell House Artist In Residency program, which works with artists from across the country.
Awards
2025 Creative Accelerator Fund Recipient – Illinois Arts Council Agency
2024 2nd Place Award – Rock Island Art Guild Fine Arts Exhibition/Figge Art Museum
2017 Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant
2015 Midwest Artist Studios Project – Featured Artist
2015 ISLAND Hill House Residency – summer 2015 – Bellaire, MI
2014 Evanston Biennial cash award
2012 Finalist in Kalos Foundation Art Prize
2012 Award of Excellence – Art Saint Louis XXVIII: The Exhibition
2012 Best in Sculpture – 64 Arts – America: Now and Here
2008 TICA School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Undertow, solo installation, Sheldon Galleries, St. Louis, MO
2022 Navigating Borders II, Sheldon Galleries, St. Louis, MO
2021 Navigating Borders, WIU Art Gallery, Macomb, IL
2016 Transition, Applebee Art Gallery – Jacksonville, IL
Group Exhibitions
2024 43rd Rock Island Art Guild Fine Arts Exhibition, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA
2023 Ann Metzger National Biennial Exhibition, St. Louis Artist Guild, St. Louis, MO
2019 Western Illinois University Alumni Invitational, WIU Art Gallery, Macomb, IL
2018 At The Surface, Foundry Arts Center, St. Charles, MO
2017 Midwest Artists Studios Group Show, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
2015 Quincy Arts Center Biennial, Quincy Arts Center, Quincy, IL
2014 (DIS)COMFORT ZONES -ArtPrize 2014, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
2014 Reclaim, Remember, Repeat, Peoria Art Guild, Peoria, IL
2014 Evanston+Vicinity Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
2014 Galex 48, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL
2013 Play – ArtPrize 2013, UICA, Grand Rapids, MI
2013 Honors Awards Exhibition, Art Saint Louis, St. Louis
2013 Funtemporary, West Central Illinois Arts Center, Macomb, IL
2013 St.Charles Community College Printmaking and Sculpture Invitational, SCC St. Charles, MO
2012 Art St. Louis XXVIII: The Exhibition, Art Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO
2012 64 Arts – America: Now and Here, Buchanan Center for the Arts, Monmouth, IL
2011 Re-duced, Re-mused, Re-cycled, West Central Illinois Arts Center, Macomb, IL
Commissions
Behind Closed Doors, Angad Arts Hotel, St. Louis, MO. Permanent installation.
Press
Carey, Brainard, https://museumofnonvisibleart.com/interviews/jason-ackman/ 2018
Juarez, Frank. 2015 Midwest Artist Studios Catalog and Workbook. Midwest Artist Studios Project, 2016. Print
Greymatter Gallery, “Jason Ackman – Rushville, Illinois”. Web blog post. 365Artists365Days. Frank Juarez Gallery and Greymatter Galllery, 14 Jan. 2014.
http://365artists365days.com/?s=jason+ackman
Kaczmarczyks, Jeffrey. “Art Prize 2013: Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk’s top ten favorites represent works that stay with you.” MLive. MLive Media Group, 26 September 2013. http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2013/09/artprize_2013_jeffrey_kaczmarczyks_top_10_favorites.html
Becherers, Joseph. “Joseph Becherer’s ArtPrize 2013 Top 10: Focus on poetry of works.” MLive. MLive Media Group, 26 September 2013. Web 19 January 2015.
http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2013/09/joseph_becherers_artprize_2013_top_10.html
Wongpakdee, Patty. Art Without Waste:500 Upcycled and Earth-Friendly Designs. Beverly: Rockport Publishing, 2013. Print