Brad Jirka

Brad Jirka is a Professor of Fine Arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design focusing in Sculpture, Digital Fabrication, and 3D Foundation Studies. In addition to four decades of teaching studio art Jirka’s professional history includes working with the collaborative group “Midwest Electric Art”; co-founding The American School of Neon; and as Vice President of Design for St. Elmo’s Inc., an internationally recognized producer of creative and architectural lighting.

Jirka's studio works focus on the tradition of the Philosophical Instrument, which he uses to explore and discover the phenomenology of our environment, while his Public Art projects, with collaborative partner Katherine Jones, strive for the creation of “event” often incorporating light, motion, and random technologies into the works object set.

Public works include “Justitia Omnibus” for the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Education Center at Metropolitan State University, MN.; “Lax Communica” for the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse; ”Geometrica Kinesic” for the University of Wisconsin, Parkside; “The Newtonian Proxies” for the Duluth Public Arts Commission; and even the Neon Riverboat Mural over Hennepin Ave at Riverplace in Minneapolis. Their public work has been featured in the CodaMagazines ‘Light as Art III’ and ‘Placemaking Art’.

Jirka has been a juror for the MN State Fair Art exhibition, the Society of Mn Sculptors, the U of M Morris annual student exhibition, co-curated the Make it Move “Body and Machine” Exhibitions in Mpls, and was a co-curator of the MCAD international exhibition "Beyond the Buzz: New Forms, Realities, and Environments in Digital Fabrication" and the exhibitions Artist Panel Moderator.