Jon Henry

Since moving back to Virginia, I have become more interested in creating works based in/on the land. I completed an MFA at JMU. After doing a few residencies, exhibits, and lectures around the globe, I settled into the little town of New Market, VA. I am the proprietor at Jon Henry General Store in Downtown New Market offering fresh daily access to over 200 Virginia unique food items and trinkets. 

https://jonhenrygeneralstore.com/
 @jonhenrygeneral

Awards and Honors: Relational Aesthetics Residency at VCCA through NEA Best Country Store 2020 NVDaily WPA Fellow with the USDAC Inaugural Grant from VDAC's Virginia Food Access Investment Fund

What drew to the M.A. in Arts Politics?
I was curious about how I might develop a praxis that combined my interest in politics with art. Until then, I really had always been taught to keep these ideas separated.

How did your experience in the program shape your work?
I found a better language to describe my work; I feel like I better understand the ecosystems that I live within, too.

What are some of the challenges and/or rewards of this program?
It was a major life change to come from Virginia's rural Blue Ridge Mountain into Downtown Manhattan. I appreciated the convergence of so many diverse voices, energies, times, and goals. The program is fast paced, like the city! I had to learn to be a tad slower when I went onto do my MFA.