Jessica Held
Visual Arts: Painting & PhotographyWebsite: www.fluxandfunction.com
Biography
Jessica Held is an artist, teaching artist, small business owner, and festival coordinator based in Athens, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and photography from Ohio University. Jessica has exhibited nationally and internationally, including her debut exhibition in Prague, Czech Republic during her study abroad. She continues to create, exhibit, and publish her paintings, photographs, and collaborative works.
Recently, Jessica’s artwork was published in Native Fruit: Poetry and Fine Art Inspired by the Pawpaw, and her piece was included in the Stories in the Park: Native Fruit public installation in Athens, Ohio. Jessica also recently exhibited in solo and group shows in Ohio, New York, and Indiana—including Women of Appalachia.
Jessica brings extensive experience as a teaching artist, having led visual arts, art appreciation, interdisciplinary, and STEAM lessons in schools, art centers, and community programs. Currently, she teaches summer art camps and year round teen art at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, as well as K-12 after-school art enrichment through Ohio University’s Kids on Campus program throughout Southeast Ohio.
In 2024, Jessica completed a residency teaching the Ohio Arts Council’s Creative Aging Ohio: Building Bridges to Sustained Communities classes for adults over 55 at Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library in Chillicothe. In 2025, she was the teaching artist for Art Possible Ohio’s Adaptation, Integration, and the Arts program at Bundy Elementary School in Wellston, Ohio.
Jessica creates functional art for her business Flux and Function LLC, available online and in local shops throughout Ohio and West Virginia. Her small business was awarded an Ohio Winding Road Seed Grant in 2023.
Jessica also serves as the Community Marketplace coordinator for the annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival in Albany, Ohio. In 2024, she collaborated with Athens’ poet laureate to publish a pawpaw-inspired visual art and poetry anthology.
RECENT PROJECTS: “Repousse Inspired Box”, Ohio University’s ‘Kids on Campus’ program at Millcreek Elementary School (Corning, OH), K-6 graded, after school art enrichment 30-minute classes once a week for two semesters: Students learned about the French technique of ‘repousse’ (a relief technique used in metalwork), looked at repousse art, and created a repousse inspired box in three sequential classes.
“Let’s Celebrate the 2nd graders Art Show”, Art Possible Ohio’s ‘Adaptation, Integration and the Arts’ program at Bundy Elementary (Wellston, Ohio), 2nd grade, 10-week residency, once a week for 45 minute classes: Students created self portrait drawings and cupcake sculptures for their school’s first art show.
“Suminagashi Landscapes”, Spring Workshop’s visual arts class at EN-RICH-MENT of Stark County (Canton, Ohio), elementary age participants, two hour class: Students learned the Japanese marbling technique known as “suminagashi’, looked at suminagashi art, and made a suminagashi print to use for a collage landscape.
Grade Levels/Age Groups
- PreK-Kindergarten
- Grades 1-3
- Grades 4-5
- Grades 6-8
- Grades 9-12
- Adults
- Older adults
Facilities and Resources Required
- Tables
- Chairs
- Sink/Water
Organizational Involvement
Availability
Upon Request
Images courtesy of the teaching artist:
Notes
“I love the clear schedule and expectations Jessica sets for her classes. You can see the impact. I love that she incorporates global and local artists into the curriculum. Her subject matter is age appropriate and she adapted quickly to the needs of the classroom. She has a positive and comfortable rapport with the classroom teacher. Students call her by name, “Miss Jessica” and call out to her. Jessica clearly has a lot of respect for the students, which they respond positively to. Best practices: Lots of repetition, clear instruction, careful pacing, lots of affirmation of their hard work.” – Megan Fitze Executive Director Art Possible Ohio
“Jessica, thank you so much for everything you have done for our Kids on Campus students. They looked so forward to your visit every week, and you did such wonderful, creative projects with them! I was so impressed (as was the staff)!! Thank you for bringing your enthusiasm, creativity, love of art, and your patience to them each week. What an honor it was having you here!” – Susan Chabot Kids on Campus ~ Program Coordinator Millcreek Elementary School
