Jennifer York with “Holy City” at City Gallery, Charleston, SC
“Exploration leads to inspiration.”
Jennifer “Jenna” York is a lifelong artist and curious explorer. She grew up in rural Indiana, earned a BFA in Sculpture with Art History minor from Pratt Institute, and an MFA in Fibers from Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2003, she founded Jennythreads Studio in Asheville, NC, producing fine handmade apparel for stylish women, crafting an independent, creative living for 19 years.
In 2018-19 Jenna traveled to a dozen countries for four monthlong international art residencies, where she filled sketchbooks with observational drawings and created a series of collapsible carousel pop-up book sculptures that fit in her carry-on suitcase.
In March 2020, Jenna relocated to Charleston, SC and currently lives among the tidal marshlands near Folly Beach. As an avid runner during the COVID-19 Pandemic, she found old suitcases and mirrors on the side of the road and saw them as creative vessels in which to build wondrous new scenes of intricate cut paper, a natural development from the carousel book structures. She continued to develop this body of work as a 2021 Gibbes Museum of Art Visiting Artist.
After 19 years in the studio production business, Jenna retired from Jennythreads and shifted her creative focus to fine art full-time. Her first museum-hosted solo show, “New Histories” ran at the Gibbes Museum of Art from October to December 2021. In 2022, her large tyvek papercut “Carolopolis” was exhibited and sold at ARTFIELDS in Lake City, SC. She successfully fabricated “Sky Chapel” in lasercut steel from her papercut maquette for the National Sculpture Exhibition and Competition at Riverside Park in North Charleston, SC.
Recent solo shows include “Estuary Blues” at the Myrtle Beach Art Museum (2022), “Constructed Realities” at the Museum of Art-Deland (Florida 2023), “Historical Fiction” at the Saul Alexander Gallery at the Charleston Main Library (2025), and “Thunder and Wonder” at Francis Marion University’s Gately Gallery in Florence, SC (2025.). She was named 2024 Griffith-Reyburn Lowcountry Artist of the Year. She was North Charrleston’s Artist-in-Residence and Visual Art Ambassador from October 2025 to January 2026.
Meanwhile, as a SC Journeyman Beekeeper, Jenna has developed a women-specific beekeeping suit because men’s and unisex suits just do not fit, perform, or protect women’s figures well. She launched Jeometry Beewear in March 2025 with an innovative new suit that is made in the USA from 100% recycled breathable mesh. Her mission is to empower women to save the bees.
Outside the studio, Jenna is a diehard trail runner, road cyclist, and SUP paddler. She lives among the tidal marshlands of Charleston with her husband, two tabby cats, and thousands of honeybees.