Dates

• Existence: 1938-

Biography

Jeanette (Jean) Berry, artist, was born August 22, 1938, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She married early in life and had three children.

Berry began studying art as a teenager and took instruction in art at the Kansas City Art Institute. Berry then moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and received an Associate of Arts degree from Des Moines Area Community College in 1980. She trained with artists Chancey Rosenbaum and Brenda Jones.

The death of her youngest child, Toni, was a watershed for Berry, after which she threw [herself] into [her] art to fill the void. In spring 1987, she enrolled as a student of art at Drake University in Des Moines. There she completed a B.F.A. in May 1989. Berry' work was exhibited regionally and nationally after she received her degree and was included in a Smithsonian Institution exhibition. In 1989, she won the Fourth Annual King Celebration Art Award.

Berry works predominantly in charcoal and paper, focusing primarily on depicting African Americans.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: