Jon Renzella

Personal Pronouns

he/him

Describe what you do for work and how your experience with it has been.

I'm a woodcut printmaker, comic artist, and tattooist. Being a full-time artist is challenging, never the same for too long, and full of opportunities for personal growth.

How did you get your job?

I worked part-time at a day job and part-time nights in my studio, acting as if I could be fired from my art job if I skipped out. As I earned more money from my art, I gradually decreased my day job hours and increased my studio time. After seven years, I was able to quit the day job and work full-time as an artist.

How long ago did you graduate from MCAD?

10+ years

Where are you originally from and how did you hear about MCAD?

New Hampshire, I met someone from MCAD at a portfolio review in Boston.

What was your major and how did you choose it?

Printmaking (changed to Print, Paper, Book my last year). I loved the aesthetic of woodcuts and etchings, and the professors and facilities were wonderful.

Who was your favorite faculty member and why?

It was a tie for liberal arts classes between Ruth Voights and Frenchy Lunning, and a tie for studio arts classes between Jody Williams, Natasha Pestich, and Tim Tozer.

Describe your internship(s).

I worked with Aldo Moroni in his California Building studio as a studio and gallery assistant and interned at Highpoint Center for Printmaking with Cole Rogers. I learned so much about managing your own career, the importance of relationships, building the thing you want to see, and of course uncountable technical skills. In 2010, I founded a small, nonprofit gallery in the front room of my studio building, and have exhibited other artists there almost every month since. This is a direct result of my time with Aldo and Cole, who both had galleries as part of their studio space.

Best thing you ever found on the free shelf?

My roommate got all the best stuff, so I free-shelved vicariously through him, but I can't say for sure what was from the free shelf and what was from elsewhere.

Did MCAD prepare you for life after graduation? In what way?

MCAD taught me how to think in ways most people don't, and the older I get the more I value that.

Your biggest takeaway from MCAD?

Aside from all the debt? After graduation, several of my classmates started working as full-time artists. Seeing them able to do it made it seem real, and was so encouraging.

What inspires you/your work?

Everything, all the time.

How do you network yourself and your art?

I participate in group exhibitions, have solo ones, table at events, live stream on Twitch, do the general social media stuff, host exhibits/live music/workshops/etc in the gallery I established in front of my studio, publish and distribute my comics, participate in anthologies, go to shows, submit my work to competitions and biennials, and generally say yes whenever anyone asks if I want to join an event, do a workshop, hang a print in their cafe, or whatever else.

What was your experience living in the Twin Cities? Any hidden treasures?

I love Minneapolis, there was always something going on there. I think all the hidden treasures I would remember are now gone, but I'm sure there are a million more.