about
Jessica Fuentes is an author, artist, and educator based in Fort Worth, Texas. She holds an MA in Art Education with a Museum Certification from the University of North Texas, where her thesis, Learning From Each Other: Narrative Explorations of Art Museum Self-guided Materials, was recognized with the Most Innovative Thesis award. She also earned a BA in Art & Performance from the University of Texas at Dallas and is currently pursuing a PhD in Art Education at UNT.
Jessica serves as News Editor for Glasstire, an online magazine covering Texas art, where she writes news articles, exhibition reviews, opinion pieces, and artist profiles. Her scholarly work includes the article The Need for Educators of Color in K-12 Museum Tours in the Journal of Museum Education (2021) and the chapter Representation Matters: Diversifying School Tour Curriculum in Creating Meaningful Museum Experiences for K-12 Audiences, edited by Tara Young. She co-authored the instructional resource Redefining “American”: Expanding the Canon by Connecting With Students’ Lives in Art Education (2022) and Shared Authority as Pedagogy and Practice in Viewfinder: Reflecting on Museum Education (2023). Jessica was awarded The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant in 2023 to support a series of articles highlighting Texas art spaces founded by and for artists of color.
As Executive Director of Kinfolk House, Jessica continues her commitment to fostering connections between artists, institutions, and communities. With over 15 years of experience in art education, she has worked with learners of all ages in formal and informal settings. At the Dallas Museum of Art, she developed the C3 Visiting Artist Project, connecting local artists with the community, and at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, she launched the Carter Community Artists initiative to amplify regional talent. Throughout her museum career, Jessica collaborated with cross-departmental teams, supervised staff and interns, developed systems for evaluation and project management, and prioritized visitor-centered experiences.
An active artist, Jessica’s work has been featured throughout North Texas for over a decade. She is a former member of the F6 Gallery Collective and 500X Gallery. Her series My Only Homeland was published in Deep Red Press (2018), and she served as an Artist-in-Residence at Tarrant County College South Campus during the 2019–2020 academic year. In 2021, her work was included in the public art exhibition New Stories: New Futures, curated by Dr. Lauren Cross. In 2023, Jessica and Dallas-based performance artist Christian Cruz received a grant from the U.S. Latinx Art Forum’s Artist Mentorship Program, where they exchanged knowledge about their respective disciplines.
In addition to her professional and artistic roles, Jessica is actively engaged in the arts community, serving on the Fort Worth Art Commission, the DFW Airport’s public art advisory panel, and the board of Make Art with Purpose (MAP).
When she’s not writing, teaching, or creating, Jessica enjoys spending time with her family traveling, exploring art museums, or working in their home studio.
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