Jeannine Spooner Kitzhaber is an artist based in the Twin Cities. She earned a BFA and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of MN-Twin Cities. Over her extensive 25-year career as a college art instructor, Jeannine traveled for work throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area and western Wisconsin, developing a deep interest in maps and the evolving landscape, from woodlands and prairies to burgeoning housing developments. Her experiences viewing landscapes through her car window or via GPS maps sparked a curiosity in how we encounter, decipher, and move through spaces, influencing her to document these observations in her artwork. “We all experience landscapes in some digital way as we move through them,” explains Kitzhaber. “Technology reshapes how we connect with these places. My goal is to reimagine these experiences in a tactile way, translating the digital into something tangible.”

Beginning in 2006, Jeannine has focused on exploring landforms depicted through tangible and technologically created map references. Her process evolved from literal to abstraction of mapping systems, using mixed media and assemblage techniques that relate to the materials of construction. This thematic exploration has earned her numerous accolades, exhibitions, and grants, including recognition from the MN State Arts Board. Her artwork is widely exhibited across the United States and in Canada, and is held in collections ranging from private homes to corporate settings and prominent Twin Cities design firms like Martha Dayton Design and Metropolis Design Group. She maintains a studio in the historic Northrup King Building in Minneapolis, where she displays her work. She is also an established member of Strata Gallery Santa Fe, New Mexico.