Jan Allen

Allen, born in Windsor, Ontario, was raised in Toronto and Mississauga.{{cite news |last1=Dugan |first1=Melanie |title=Allen aims to make art accessible |work=The Kingston Whig-Standard |date=15 February 2003|via=Proquest}} In 1972, she enrolled in Queen's University at Kingston to study history. She attended the Banff School of Fine Arts (now the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity) in the 1970s, where her studies were focused in Ceramic History as well as Intermediate and Advanced Ceramics. She was a studio potter from 1974 to 1986.

Allen completed a Bachelor of Arts (with a minor in History) in 1987, a Bachelor of Fine Arts (I Class) in 1990, and a Master of Arts in Art History in 1992; all from Queen's University. She curated art shows during and after her education, including at the Agnes Etherington gallery. She was hired as an associate curator at the Agnes Etherington gallery in 1992 and became curator of contemporary art in 1995.

Allen's curatorial focus includes contemporary art with a concentration in Canadian art and her research interests include new media art, electronic media art, socially and politically engaged art, the exhibitionary complex, and arts policy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.queensu.ca/art/art-history/art-history-faculty|title=Art History Faculty Art History & Art Conservation|website=Queen's University|access-date=10 March 2018}}

As Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art, at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Allen has overseen numerous exhibitions, publications and programs since 1992. She became Acting Director at the Agnes Etherington in 2012 and was appointed Director in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://canadianart.ca/news/jan-allen-named-acting-director-of-agnes-etherington-art-centre/|title=Jan Allen Named Acting Director of Agnes Etherington Art Centre|website=Canadian Art|access-date=9 March 2019}} Since she became Director, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre has won several awards,{{cite news|url=https://agnes.queensu.ca/news/external/award-winning-agnes/|title=Award Winning Agnes|date=18 November 2016|work=The Gazette|access-date=3 April 2018|publisher=Queen's University}} and has nearly doubled its funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.{{cite news|url=http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2018-01-11/arts/agnes-funding-increases/|title=Agnes funding increases Canada Counsel for the Arts recognizes gallery|last1=Pearce|first1=Nick|date=12 January 2018|work=The Gazette|access-date=3 April 2018|publisher=Queen's University}}

Select projects include Museopathy (2001),{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/please-mess-with-the-museum/article762622/|title=Please mess with the museum|last1=Milroy|first1=Sarah|date=28 July 2001|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G78-CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|title=Family Ties: Living History in Canadian House Museums|last1=Terry|first1=Andrea|date=1 June 2015|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=978-0773545618|location=Kingston, Ontario|pages=169–170|access-date=4 April 2018}} Better Worlds: Activist and Utopian Projects by Artists (2002),{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ax-1GLi0NvQC&pg=PA242|title=Public art in Canada : critical perspectives|last1=Gérin|first1=Annie|date=2009|publisher=Univ. of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0802095688|location=Toronto|page=242|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite journal|year=2002|title=Better Worlds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9M3AQAAIAAJ|journal=Art Papers Magazine|volume=26|issue=1–6|page=58|access-date=4 April 2018}} and Machine Life (2004).{{cite web|url=http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08213.html|title=Machine Life Collection, 2004. Collection Number: 8213 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections|website=Cornell University Library|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=520|title=Machine Life & David Rokeby|website=Le Fondation Daniel Langlois|access-date=4 April 2018}}

Allen joined the Board of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://curatingpostempire.com/presenters/jan-allen/|title=Jan Allen|website=Ontario Association of Art Galleries|access-date=3 April 2018|date=27 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://oaag.org/board.html|title=About OAAG: Board of Directors|website=Ontario Association of Art Galleries|access-date=3 April 2018}} She also serves on, and has chaired, the Arts Advisory Committee of the City of Kingston, its Visual Arts Working Group, and the Advocacy Committee of the Kingston Arts Council.{{cite news|url=http://www.thewhig.com/2010/03/13/portraits-of-history|title=Portraits of history|last1=Schliesmann|first1=Paul|date=13 March 2010|work=Kingston Whig-Standard|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thewhig.com/2017/07/14/mayors-arts-awards-to-be-handed-out-in-the-fall|title=Mayor's Arts Awards to be handed out in the fall|last1=Glover|first1=Megan|date=14 July 2017|work=The Whig|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cityofkingston.ca/documents/10180/16857052/AAC_Agenda-0117.pdf/12796a77-773f-4358-a69f-a245fb1547bc|title=City of Kingston Arts Advisory  Committee Meeting N umber  01- 201 7|website=City of Kingston|access-date=4 April 2018}}

Allen has served on the Canada Council for the Arts Standing Peer Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions, and the Advisory Committee of the School of Image Arts, Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.{{cite web|url=http://www.imagearts.ryerson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/AdvisoryCouncil_Feb2016.pdf|title=School of Image Arts  Advisory Council|publisher=Ryerson University|access-date=4 April 2018}}

• Speculative Science, Carleton University Art Gallery, 1999. In the exhibition catalogue, Sandra Dyck examines how Allen's sculptural works evoke relationships between biological, psychological and technological aspects of identity. Other subjects discussed include Allen's work in relation to themes of biotechnology, hybridity, and cybernetics.{{Cite book|title=JanAllen's Speculative Science|last=Dyck|first=Sandra|date=1999|publisher=Carleton University Art Gallery|isbn=0770904238|location=Ottawa|oclc=49624472}}
• Terminal, Edward Day Gallery, Kingston, Ontario, 1996.{{cite news |last1=Parpart |first1=Lee |title=Art in Review |work=Kingston Whig-Standard |date=9 November 1996|via=ProQuest}}
• Oblivion Station, Modern Fuel Gallery, Kingston, Ontario, 1996.{{Cite web|url=http://www.modernfuel.org/programming-1990s|title=Programming: 1990–1999 {{!}} Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre|website=www.modernfuel.org|access-date=1 April 2018}}
• In Heaven, Blackwood Gallery, Erindale College, Mississauga, Ontario, 1996.
• Trophy, State of Flux Gallery, Kingston, Ontario, 1994.
• Racing Inevitability, Kingston Artists' Association Gallery, Kingston, Ontario, 1991.
• Playing with Fire, Grad Club, Kingston, Ontario, 1991.
• St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario.

• Geoffrey James: Inside Kingston Penitentiary, 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.visitkingston.ca/kingstons-culture-gems-the-agnes-etherington-art-centre/|title=Kingston's Culture Gems: The Agnes Etherington Art Centre|last1=Smith|first1=Sarah|year=2017|work=Visit Kingston|access-date=3 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/books/geoffrey-james-inside-kingston-penitentiary|title=Geoffrey James: Inside Kingston Penitentiary|last=Singhal|first=Sheila|date=26 January 2015|website=National Gallery of Canada|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://agnes.queensu.ca/product/inside-kingston-penitentiary-1835-2013-geoffrey-james/|title=InsideKingston Penitentiary (1835–2013): Geoffrey James {{!}} Agnes Etherington Art Centre|website=agnes.queensu.ca|access-date=19 March 2018}}
• {{Cite book|title=Annie Pootoogook: Kinngait compositions|last=Allen|first=Jan|date=2011|publisher=Agnes Etherington Art Centre|others=Pootoogook, Annie, 1969–2016., Agnes Etherington Art Centre.|isbn=9781553392606|location=Kingston, Ont.|oclc=726821296}}{{cite news|url=http://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2011-10-28/arts/deceptively-simple/|title=Deceptively simple Annie Pootoogook's exhibit, Kinngait Compositions, shows her view of an Inuit village|last1=Sly|first1=Mathieu|date=28 October 2011|work=The Journal|access-date=3 April 2018|agency=Queen's University}}
• {{Cite book|title=Sorting daemons: art, surveillance regimes and social control|last=Allen|first=Jan|date=2010|publisher=Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University|others=Goldstein, Brenda., Robertson, Kirsty, 1976–, Smith, Sarah, 1983–, Agnes Etherington Art Centre.|isbn=9781553392538|location=Kingston, Ont.|oclc=471042720}}{{cite web|url=http://jordancrandall.com/main/+appearances/_assets/SortingDaemonsprogram.pdf|title=Sorting Daemons Exhibition Program|website=JordanCrandall|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cre8iv80studio.com/2011/download/picturehouse2011.pdf|title=SORTING DAEMONS ART, SURVEILLANCE REGIMES  AND SOCIAL CONTROL|year=2011|website=NEWS FROM THE ART GALLERY OF MISSISSAUGA}}{{cite web|url=https://sjes5p70.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/sorting-daemons-art-surveillance-regimes-and-social-control/|title=Sorting Daemons: Art, Surveillance Regimes and Social Control|website=Social Justice & The Arts|access-date=5 March 2011|date=5 March 2011}}
• Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge: Working Culture, 2008.{{cite journal|year=2010|title=Bruce Barber, ed.,  Condé and Beveridge: Class Works . (Review)|url=https://www.racar-racar.com/uploads/5/7/7/4/57749791/2010_35_1_13_book_smith.pdf|journal=RACAR: Revue d'art canadienne / Canadian Art Review|volume=XXXV|issue=1|pages=92–93|access-date=3 April 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.artandeducation.net/announcements/111355/carole-conde-amp-karl-beveridge-at-agnes-etherington-art-centre|title=Carole Conde & Karl Beveridge at Agnes Etherington Art Centre|date=4 March 2008|work=Art & Education|access-date=4 April 2018}}{{Cite book|title=Condé and Beveridge : class works|date=2008|publisher=Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design|others=Barber, Bruce., Agnes Etherington Art Centre.|isbn=9780919616486|location=Halifax, N.S.|oclc=232367540}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RHaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT288|title=Imagining resistance : visual culture & activism in Canada|last1=Cronin|first1=J. Keri|last2=Robertson|first2=Kirsty|date=2010|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn=9781554582570|location=Waterloo, Ont.|access-date=4 April 2018}}
• Joyce Wieland: Twilit Record of Romantic Love, 1993.{{Cite book|title=Joyce Wieland: A Life in Art|last=Nowell|first=Iris|publisher=ECW Press|year=2001|isbn=9781550286953|pages=478}}{{cite web|url=http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/a/allen/all001t.html|title=Joyce Wieland: Twilit Record of Romantic Love|last1=Allen|first1=Jan|website=The Canadian Art Database|access-date=4 April 2018}}

Allen has contributed essays and reviews to publications such as Prefix Photo,{{cite web|url=http://www.prefix.ca/magazine/|title=About Prefix Photo Magazine|website=Prefix|access-date=4 April 2018}} C Magazine,{{Cite web|url=http://cmagazine.com/issues/58|title=C Magazine / Issue 58|year=1998|website=C Magazine|access-date=10 March 2018}} Artexte, and Poliester. Other essays include:

• "David Askevold: Once Upon a Time in the East," Prefix Photo, Issue 26, Autumn-Winter 2012.
• "Marlene Creates: Interrogative Movement," Prefix Photo, Issue 19, Spring-Summer 2009.
• "Self-destroying Postcard Worlds: The Synthetic Landscapes of Isabelle Hayeur," Prefix Photo, Issue 19, Autumn-Winter 2005.
• "Letting Go: the fall in contemporary art," C Magazine, Issue 58, May–August 1998.
• "Reinventing the Mega Show: Europe's first Manifesta," C Magazine, Issue 52, February–April 1997.{{Cite web|url=http://cmagazine.com/issues/52|title=C Magazine / Issue 52|year=1997|website=C Magazine|access-date=10 March 2018}}

Allen's poetry has been published in journals and anthologies and includes a cyber-punk inspired collection Personal Peripherals (2006).{{cite web |year=2011 |title=Kingston WritersFest – Jan Allen |url=https://www.kingstonwritersfest.ca/festival-author/jan-allen/ |access-date=3 April 2018 |website=KingstonWritersFest}}

Allen received the OAC (Ontario Arts Council) Exhibition Assistance Grant in 1999, 1998, 1993–1995, and 1991, respectively. From 1994 to 1995, she held the Canada Council B Grant in Visual Arts.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Allen received a First Prize for Sculpture at the Queen's University Arts Fest in 1990 and the First Prize at St. Lawrence College's Environmental Art Show in 1992. In 1994 she received an Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grant.

In 2002, Allen accepted the 2002 Exhibition of the Year award from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG), as the Coordinating Curator of Museopathy. The exhibition was recognized for its innovative and multi-site exhibition of regional, national and international artists' installations.{{cite web|url=http://oaag.org/awards/2002.html|title=Awards 2002|website=Ontario Association of Art Galleries|access-date=3 April 2018}}

She was also the recipient of an educator award for her professional development of Exposures, at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in 2008 (with Katrina Enros and Pat Sullivan). In 2009, she received an OAAG award for curatorial writing, for her chapter entitled "Working Culture" in the book Condé and Beveridge: Class Works (NSCAD Press, 2008).{{cite web|url=http://akimbo.ca/akimbos/?id=16778|title=2009 OAAG AWARDS / REMISE DES PRIX AOGA|website=Akimbo|access-date=3 April 2018}}

In 2019 she was the sole recipient of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Medal.{{Cite web |title=Jan Allen Awarded RCA Medal |url=https://agnes.queensu.ca/connect/news-and-stories/jan-allen-awarded-rca-medal/ |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=Agnes Etherington Art Centre |language=en-US}} Also in 2019 she was given a lifetime achievement award from Ontario Galleries.{{Cite web |title=Contemporary Art and a Lifetime of Achievement with Jan Allen – CFRC Podcast Network |url=https://podcast.cfrc.ca/2019/12/contemporary-art-and-a-lifetime-of-achievement-with-jan-allen/ |access-date=2022-04-18 |language=en-CA}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Jan}}

Category:Created via preloaddraft

Category:Living people

Category:1952 births

Category:Artists from Windsor, Ontario

Category:Writers from Windsor, Ontario

Category:Canadian art curators

Category:20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century Canadian artists

Category:21st-century Canadian artists

Category:21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers

Category:Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston

Category:Canadian women curators

Category:20th-century Canadian women writers