janet e. dandridge

janet e. dandridge is an Interdisciplinary Artivist who encourages awareness and discourse around, as well as solutions to, ideologies that perpetuate injustice. janet intersplices theatrical performance, photography, empirical data, identity politics and whimsy into a keen reflection on social constructs and governing policies. Primarily using performance art, interactive installations, and abstract photography, janet examines trauma and resilience, geometric therapy, normalized racism, Otherness, and the power of Black women. As an example of her work, in Amendment: Knell of a Nation (AKN), janet uses her body as a beacon of strength to physically remove the dehumanizing and marginalizing weight of greed embedded in the symbolism of the American flag. In collective finds of inanimacy (CFoI), janet explores the placement of inanimate objects from conurbation in 1960s Paris suburbs by which the town Cergy-Pontoise was established to capture stories of migration, isolation, and renewal. Spirituality, the personal empirical, and collective actions are key components that guide janet in her creations.

janet is a Creative Consultant for national and international human rights organizations such as the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders (Los Angeles, CA) and Population Connection Action Fund (International). She is an Arts Equity Consultant providing tools and techniques to individuals and arts institutions to establish fair labor practices for artists. In 2017 janet formed FLUIDITY, an in-person and online program that guides fellow artists and the public in artistic development of collaborative projects that effect social and political change. To participants, janet poses the question, “What are you actively doing to activate space as an Activist; as an Artist; as an Advocate?”

In November 2020, janet was awarded an inaugural Washington Project for the Arts Wherewithal Research Grant funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation to explore Perpetual Traumatic Stress Disorder in American Black women. Her work has been featured as part of national campaigns to combat racism and misogyny on media outlets including CNN’s Black in America with Soledad O’Brien in 2013, and TV One’s Justice By Any Means in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, janet was named Artist Laureate by Institut Français, Paris. janet’s work has been exhibited at the Abrons Arts Center (New York City, NY, 2019), LA Louver (Los Angeles, CA, 2015), photoLA (Los Angeles, CA, 2014-2015), Consortium for Research of Women (Davis, CA, 2013), and the National Steinbeck Center (Salinas, CA, 2012). She has performed internationally at Esplanade de La Défense for FLUX CONTROL (Paris, France, 2018), facilitated FLUIDITY at Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, France, 2017) and Artivism workshops at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts Paris – Cergy (Cergy & Paris, France, 2018). janet’s work is included in the collection of The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles.

She earned her Master of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, and her Bachelor of Science from St John’s University in New York City. janet enjoys wandering by the water, practical and impractical iridescent objects, and dancing whenever the Spirit moves her.