JEAN OFFUTT LEWIS BIO
Born in Washington DC and raised in Arlington, Virginia, Jean Offutt's artistic expressions were encouraged early in life and she credits her proximity to the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian, and Dumbarton Oaks as being strong influences on her early artistic development.
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Jean graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. At S.U., she became interested in Dada, Surrealism, and Pop art and her drawings of interconnected, yet random subject matter were inspired by Magritte, Escher, and Dali, and the pop and psychedelic artists of the day. She also began working in mixed media and sculpture, creating assemblages of found objects; reimagining them into completely different uses. Marchel Duchamp and Claes Oldenburg greatly impacted that work.
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After graduating from S.U., Jean got married and became Jean Govoni. She first worked as a Graphic Designer in Boston MA and then began her career in advertising in New York City on Madison Avenue, and in London, England as an Art Director, Producer of TV commercials, and a Creative Director at various multinational advertising agencies.
She started up three creative consultancies: Eye for Business, Ltd. in London, England, Jean Govoni & Partners in Sag Harbor NY, and Govoni LLC in Manakin-Sabot VA and Arlington VA.
Jean won numerous awards for creativity in the advertising and design industry.
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In conjunction with her advertising career, Jean taught at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, at Syracuse University (for the Semester Abroad Program in London, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.) and at VCU, at both the undergraduate and graduate level. She taught Advertising Creative Development, Art Direction, Typography, Television Production, and Portfolio Development.
She was a long-time member of the Art Directors Club in New York and served on its Board for several years. While in England, she was a member of the Creative Circle.
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Throughout her commercial art career, Jean also worked on her art. Drawing, watercolor, and mixed media were her main focus. After returning from living in London, England, Jean had a studio space on Broadway and Prince St. in NYC's Soho, where she worked primarily on large-scale mixed media portraiture.
While living on the East End of Long Island, Jean exhibited at the Clothesline Art Sale at Guild Hall in East Hampton.
While living in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, she was juried into two different exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art Studio School's Group Collage Show. Jean also exhibited internationally and traveled to the Dordogne region of France to participate in a group exhibition at La Galerie des Artes de Verteillac's Summer Show.
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After relocating back to Arlington VA, Jean became active in her community and was appointed by the Arlington County Board to serve as a Commissioner of the Arts. Her duties included serving as a liaison to several arts groups, attending various artist groups' shows and performances, reviewing grant proposals, then making recommendations for awarding grants to the county's various arts organizations.
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Jean remarried in 2010 and became Jean Lewis. Not long afterward, she moved to Santa Fe NM, devoting herself full-time to her art. She sculpted and worked in watercolors during that period.
Currently living in the Northern Neck of Virginia, Jean has been painting in acrylics, continuing her mixed media work, and was one of 15 artists chosen to participate in a public art program, the Waterman's Way project. Her over-sized white watermen's boots, "River Critters", are permanently installed on a splash pad at Town Centre Park in Kilmarnock VA.
Most recently, Jean exhibited her "Dancing Diamonds" series of paintings at a solo show at the Gallery Underground in Arlington, Virginia.
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Jean continues to sign her work Offutt, her maiden name, to honor where the artistic gene came from.