Case Jernigan '08
"William & Mary taught me that passion and career are synonyms..."
| "... I fought my artistic instincts throughout my college career. In a way, there were too many wonderful distractions. It wasn’t until my junior year, when I had my own space on the Andrews terrace, that I felt serious ownership over my work. I spent long afternoons in my space, reading about Leonardo, Degas, and Kokoschka. Apologies to the staff at Swem, as I smudged paint and charcoal on everything I checked out. Professor Barnes held court about painterly structure, Professor Kreydatus stressed discipline, and I began to realize that the life of an artist is a long journey, and I had barely begun. I returned to William & Mary this past year to speak to students about my work and about life as an emerging artist in New York. The students were just as bright, respectful and inquisitive as I remembered them always being. As I walked by the sundial that night, I felt a rush of nostalgia and gratitude." - Case Jernigan |
About the Artist
W. Case Jernigan '08 graduated with a concentration in painting and a minor in Classical Studies. After graduation, he headed north to teach and coach at Salisbury School in Connecticut. There he wrote his own art and art history course, tutored Latin and English, coached squash and tennis, and played guitar in the choir and chapel services. A summer residency through the Art Students League sparked him to create a furious series of large paintings inspired by Italian Renaissance frescoes, and, after showing work at Joie de Vivres Gallery and Salisbury's Tremaine Gallery, he enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the New York Studio School. In his second year he painted in Philip Guston's former studio, a rickety, sunlit room overlooking rooftops near Washington Square Park. After obtaining his M.F.A., Case painted and exhibited at Brooklyn Art Space, a nonprofit artist space in the Gowanus neighborhood. He serves as Outreach Coordinator at the New York Studio School and is painting in a new studio in Brooklyn, preparing for a solo show this spring at Woodberry Forest School. He is also beginning a children's book illustration project. He has attended residencies in Italy and New York, and his works hang in the collections of Woodberry Forest School, Salisbury School, and the President's Art Collection at William and Mary.
Learn more about Case and his work.
