5 Questions- Jessica Mannisi

5 Questions- A Critical Mass for the Visual Arts Podcast

Ep. 68 Jessica Mannisi

Welcome listeners to 5 Questions: A Critical Mass for the Visual Arts Podcast in which we ask 5 questions of our interviewees aimed at positioning and contextualizing their respective bodies of work within the St. Louis artworld. This episode we’re talking with Jessica Mannisi.

Jessica is a St. Louis-based curator, arts consultant, and art historian with 20 years of experience in the museum and gallery field. She’s devoted to supporting regional arts, and has worked closely with award-winning artists and organizations to elevate the local arts community. She has led the art & exhibitions programming at the Foundry Art Centre since 2020. A jack-of-all-trades in galleries and museums, her primary roles are curator of the Foundry’s 3600sqft Main Galleries of rotating exhibitions and organizer of the Foundry’s large-scale art events and programs, including the annual Block Party, the Grand Hall Mural Project, and the Foundry’s First Friday Series. After earning her graduate degree in Museum Studies from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Jessica was the assistant curator/registrar of the William & Florence Schmidt Art Center at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois. She followed this 8-year tenure as the assistant curator of visual art for the Angad Arts Hotel in St. Louis’ Grand Center, curating the permanent collection and the Hotel’s inaugural exhibition year. Prior to joining the Foundry, Jessica was an independent consultant and the curatorial director of Houska Gallery in the Central West End, St. Louis.

5 Questions is a program by Critical Mass for the Visual Arts – a nonprofit, self-formed visual arts collaborative dedicated to promoting, enhancing and initiating contemporary visual art in the St. Louis region.

With Jessica Mannisi and Joe Kohlburn

Editor – Sarah Hammond

Producer – Brett Williams