About the artist
Jerri Castillo
A native of Eastern Long Island, New York, Jerri Castillo is a multimedia visual artist and educator.
She received a Master in Fine Arts from The American University in Washington, D.C., a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Castillo has also studied at The Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. Her awards include a JPMorgan Chase Artist Reach Out Program grant in support of Tri-Hamlet: My Community and Yours and a Graduate Student Mellon Travel Grant.
Artist statement
My work is inspired by the construction and deconstruction of the landscape, which is signified by the structures built in that space. My work focuses on capturing these structures and sites before they become altered into another form or destroyed and their original history and purpose are essentially forgotten.
Through my work I create a tangible setting that merges the history of the past and the events of the present, from which the viewer can explore the range between spatial illusion and memory.
Selected exhibitions
- 2025Urban, Gallery 90, Center Moriches, NY; curated by Linda Prentiss
- 2018Focal Point, Circle Gallery, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD; curated by Adam Davies
- 2016A Sense of Place, Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, NY
- 2014Deconstructing the Landscape, Anthony Giordano Gallery, Dowling College, Oakdale, NY; curated by Pam Brown
- 2013Constructed Spaces, Artist Atrium, Briarcliffe College, Bethpage, NY
- 2011Monroe Gallery, The Arts Club of Washington, Washington, DC; curated by Erich Keel
- 2006Six Sisters, Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Selected awards
- 2012JPMorgan Chase Artist Reach Out Program Grant
- 2010JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Purchase Award; Graduate Student Mellon Travel Grant
- 2009–10Babs Van Swearingen Graduate Scholarship
- 2008–10Merit Graduate Award / Graduate Assistantship
- 2003–07Carnegie Mellon Scholarship; Brookhaven National Laboratory Scholarship
Education and community practice
Castillo teaches visual arts, multimedia exploration, and video production to learners ranging from early childhood through adulthood at cultural institutions across Long Island. Her teaching integrates art history and digital technology.