Workhouse Artist of the Week: Jacqueline France

Art is Jacqueline “Jackie” France’s passion. France is June's featured associate artist at the Workhouse Arts Center. Associate artists enjoy the benefits of belonging to the Workhouse Arts Association without having a studio at the center.

“When I’m painting I wish that I could continue for every single minute of every day,” she said.    

Since childhood, France has been taken with art. In grade school she designed and illustrated hallway bulletin boards; in high school she provided art for the yearbook and school newspaper, and held her first solo exhibition. She was suspended because she forgot to tell the principal that her paintings were of nude models.

A New York native, France studied painting and sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art from New York’s Parsons School of Design, where she studied Graphic and Communication Design. She earned a Master’s degree in film from The New School in New York City.

France’s career has been as eclectic as her art. She worked on the design team for the original Wheel of Fortune, and on Kung Fu movies, including Enter the Dragon, with Bruce Lee. She animated for Hanna-Barbera, primarily working on Scooby-Doo. She also worked for Marvel comics with former president and chairman Stan Lee.

France has spent much of her career in design, working for ad agencies and graphic design studios with national accounts. She now has her own company, Marketing Elements, and her clients include National Geographic, Sports Authority, Home Shopping Network and Union Carbide. She has also designed and illustrated sportswear for 50 college teams, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and the North American Soccer League. She taught graphic design at the University of Kentucky.

Graphic design is what France does to pay the bills.  But it is painting that makes her happiest. “Sometimes I feel saddled with graphic design,” she said.  “But when I’m painting I feel as free as a butterfly.”   

The featured exhibition runs through the end of June in Building W-16.